To Be A Friend
by YukiGirl21
Summary: The last thing Loki expected when temporarily exiled to Midgard, was befriending a 10 year old blind girl. And he never thought that he would come to care so much for the child. While Asgard is in war, Loki awaits his trial on Earth, living in Stark Tower. Over time, he learns forgiveness and family from the girl and Avengers. He learns how to be a friend. /Temporary HIATUS/
1. To Be Punished

**Full Summary: ****Loki never thought much of the many lives he killed in Midgard on the day he tried to overtake the planet. Midguardians are ants, little bugs that can easily be squashed and it won't matter. He awaits his sentence on Earth living under Stark Tower with leisure while Asgard is at war. During his time, he befriends Tony Stark's adopted daughter, a ten year old blind girl. Being with this young innocent girl started making Loki see the pain he has caused when he brought the Chitauri on Earth. The ironic thing is was that Loki was the one who made her orphaned. Can Loki face his actions?**

* * *

**"Kids don't remember what you try to teach them. They remember what you are."**

**― Jim Henson, _It's Not Easy Being Green: And Other Things to Consider_**

* * *

**~Chapter One~**

Tony Stark was already having one hell of a bad day when he found out that his very expensive shipping of French wine that only comes daily in three years has been cancelled. But it became pretty shitty when he was informed by Nick Fury from S.H.I.E.L.D that Loki, a psychotic alien that tried to take over planet Earth a couple of days ago, was sent back to Earth with his brother, Thor, regards from their world "Ass-guard" or whatever Tony recalled of it.

Tony waves his hand, signaling Fury to stop his rant about how intelligent alien life forms couldn't deal with their own mess, and grabs a glass. "Whoa, whoa, so basically the wacko that tried to take over New York and sicked a race of psycho aliens on us, is going to be staying here on Earth?!" Tony says in disbelief, staring up at the holographic screen. Nick nods, his face scrunched up in a mixture of a grim and scowl.

"According to Thor, it seems that the Asguardian authority decreed that Loki's ass was to be dumped here on Earth until they had breached a decision on what punishment to give him." Nick explains. "Of course, S.H.I.E.L.D has to cover this case." Tony pours himself some whiskey. He sighs silently to himself. Seriously, it has only been a matter of two days, yet Tony couldn't even have a break. Boy, he could _really_ go for some of that expensive French wine. He takes in a long sip, listening to Fury.

"...Now here's the thing, I'm not too keen on carrying around the Universe's Most Wanted. Some other planet called, 'Jotunheim' wants Loki's head as well. Can't say I blame them—this other world is in war with Asgard, which is the reason why they can't deal with Loki immediately." Tony gives a low whistle. "They're searching for Loki, and they have no clue that he's here on Earth. It's our job to cover his identity, and unfortunately, protect him until Asgard will hand the bastard his punishment."

"Mmhmm, mm-hmm, mhh." Tony nods his head, nonchalant. "I see I see. But, may I ask Nick, what does this have to do with me?" He raises an eyebrow, swirling his drink around, the ice cubes making a light clinging sound.

Fury nods, his face stoic yet looking a little...hesitant. "Yeah, I was getting there. You see, S.H.I.E.L.D cannot risk carrying this guy around. We're pretty much the most obvious target to infiltrate. We need to give Loki a low profile. And because of that...I decided that Loki was to stay at your place."

Tony does a spit take. "Damn it!" He yells, wiping his mouth. "Look what you made me do! Spill my drink all over my persian rug damnit!" Tony slams his glass on the counter. Fury watches, looking slightly sympathetic, yet firm. Knowing Nick Fury, Tony knew that whatever came out of the man's mouth, was word of God. The CEO of Stark Corporations wouldn't had cared less if Loki were forced to be condemned to an underground prison, if S.H.I.E.L.D, as usual drags him into it.

"Nick. Nick, Nick, Nick, _Nick!_" Tony wags his finger. "I am many things. A genius billionaire playboy philanthropist superhero CEO of a huge corporation for that matter, in a great package deal. But if there is one of the few thing that I am _not_, is that I'm not a babysitter. I repeat, I AM NOT A BABYSITTER. Especially one for supervillains." Tony leans back, crossing his arms, staring testily at the agent.

Nick disregards this. "Whine all you want genius billionaire playboy and all of the other stuff that you are that I won't even bother to remember." He rolls his one visible eye, apathetic. "I'm not asking you to treat Loki like your star guest or keep him in star conditions. All I'm asking you is to keep you within your place and storm it out. Simple as that."

The billionaire pretends to consider this. "Hmmm, wow, it sounds like an easy job! Oh, but there's just one setback of this job—" Tony snaps his fingers as if he discovered sliced bread. "That's right, there's the big fat obvious fact that I'll possibly be turned into a mindless slave zombie and/or be obliterated into nothingness! Ahh, that's it! Aren't I a genius?" Tony scowls remembering the fact that Loki mind controlled one of the Avengers' members, Clint.

Fury sighs, tired of their conversation dragging on. "Thor told me that their father put magical binds on Loki or whatever. It drains Loki of his magic, so he can't do any crazy outrageous shit like teleporting or what not. Also, we place a high tech bracelet on the guy. If he were to try to escape Stark Tower or try to hurt anyone, it will cause the bracelet to electrify him."

Tony gives a smirk. "Nice."

"So you don't need to worry about anything, Stark. Now quit your complaining. Loki will come over to your place tomorrow around 7 o' clock at night, so be prepared." Tony sighs, rubbing his head. Where's his wine when he needed it?

"Whatever bossman. Just know that I'll give Loki my cheapest looking yet expensive room that I can find in my mansion."

Nick gives out a short laugh. "You go do that. Oh, and by the way," He says, before the computer screen blacks out.

"What?"

"Thor's also going to be staying with you. He insisted. Agent Fury, out!"

Tony drops his glass. What's that saying? Oh yeah. "Son of a bitch!"

* * *

Tony plops on the couch, switching on the flatscreen TV. A small bottle in his hands, a pint of ice cream in the other. His eyes are glued to the screen watching a marathon of _Power Rangers_ when Pepper comes in. She glances over to the bottle in his hand, raising an eyebrow. Taking a seat next to Tony, she says, "From the looks of this scene, work must've been a pain. Something happened?"

"Yup. Yup indeedy-deed." Tony scarfs down a spoonful of ice-cream. He shudders from a brain freeze. "I dunno, I guess it's from the fact that I was assigned to babysit Loki. Y'know, the guy that tried to enslave humanity in all? Ha. Yeah, what a guy."

Pepper's jaw drops open. "What? _That _guy?" She collapses backwards on the couch, her hand on her forehead. "So I suppose he's going to become our new roommate."

"You got that right. Not to mention, Thor is going to be staying here too."

"Oh, that Avenger with the huge hammer?" Pepper says matter-a-factly. "I remember him, seeing him on TV. Didn't you say that he was Loki's brother?" Tony nods, taking a swig of a drink. "Well that's nice, at least, for someone else to keep that guy in check."

Tony snorts. "Haha. I hate to break it Peps, but Thor would only be adding fuel to the drama fire." Pepper gives out a short laugh, grabbing the bottle from Tony. He frowns, but decides not to get it back, content with his Ben N' Jerry's cookie dough flavored ice cream. For a few minutes him and Pepper sit quietly together in each other's arms, watching Power Rangers, when JARVIS interrupts.

"Excuse me sir," The AI's voice says politely, interrupting the program.

"What is it?" Tony's voice is muffled with the chuckful of ice-cream stuffed in his mouth. "Make it snappy JARVIS."

"Ah yes. Well, there seems to be a young girl on your doorstep, asking for you. She says that you knew her father."

Tony waves this information off. "Must be a crazed fangirl trying to get into the Stark headquarters. Besides, I've met many people and forgotten about them." He rolls his eyes, smirking slightly. Pepper could only shake her head at her lover's attitude, with a smile playing on her lips.

"Sir, I must also add that it's a little girl. Probably 10 or 9 years of age."

Stark paused, his eyes off the screen. He glances over to Pepper, who looked slightly surprised as well as worried. This got his attention. "Huh. A kid?" He gets up to his feet, stretching. "Probably lost or something. Let her in, JARVIS. We'll phone in a missing kid."

"Right away sir."

Pepper gets up as well, following Tony downstairs into the lobby. They open the huge white doors. JARVIS true to the information he delivered to the couple, there is a little girl on the doorstep. Her eyes, strangely, did not seem quite focused on Pepper and Tony, looking past their direction. In her hands is an envelope. The girl is silent for a minute, standing on the doorstep in the dark, shivering, her hands clasped tightly around her bookbag straps. "Aquamarine...JARVIS's voice is the color of aquamarine...smooth, clean water..."

Confused yet concerned, Pepper puts her hand on the girl's shoulder, kneeling down. "Honey, is there something you need?" She asks in a caring voice.

The girl glances up, nodding her head at Pepper, her eyes still moving around as if trying to search where Pepper is. "Honey. You sound like the color of honey. Warm, so warm..." Pepper looks over to Tony, worried. "This is w-where T-Tony Stark lives, right?" she stutters softly, shuffling her feet.

Tony nods, uncertain. "Yes? Kid, tell me, what are you doing here?"

The little stranger lifts up her hand, reaching for Tony's. He noticed that her movement was slow, discoordinated. As if she couldn't see him. She manages to grab a hold of his arm. "So your voice _is_ the color of steel...I heard it before from the news." Tony gives the girl a funny look, but listens, tolerating her little hand that is grasping his. "My daddy," She whispers. "My daddy, says he knows you. His name is Jacob Williams."

Recognition flashes briefly across Tony's face. "Jacob…? Kid, how do I not know you're not lying?" He says suspiciously. The little girl hands the envelope to Tony. He opens it, skimming the contents. Faint nostalgia overcomes him, yet as he quickly reads the letter on, emptiness takes place in his stomach. _So it is good ol' Jacob…Oh man, not him..._ He looks down at the girl. "So you're Jacob's daughter. Where is the old man anyway? Is he...okay?" Tony squints out into the darkness.

A sob escapes the little girl, tears trickling down her face. Pepper takes hold of the little girl's hands in a motherly concern. "What's the matter?" She asks worriedly.

The little girl runs her hand through Pepper's long blonde hair, her eyes gazing out into the distance. "My daddy. H-he's dead." She buries her face into her hands. "He got killed by Loki!"

* * *

"Do you have any excuse for the actions that you have imposed upon the citizens of Midgard and Jotunheim?" Odin asks his second son wearily, who is chained up in shackles and surrounded by Asguardian guards. The royal courtroom was packed of noblesman, citizens, and warriors. All came to see the trial of Loki Laufeyson. Loki found it quite flattering in a morbid way.

He looks coldly up at his father—no, _Odin_, with a blank expression. He couldn't quite meet the gaze of Frigga, who stares at her son with such disappointment that he couldn't even look into her eyes. Thor stands at the side of Loki, his head bowed down. Loki cocks his head, remembering Odin's question. He smirks. "To make a statement." He says. "That Loki of Asgard is one to be feared in both realms."

Murmurs of anger and hate ripple throughout the courtroom.

Odin eyes down Loki with a look of dismay and disgust. "You realize that because of this, you have caused a disturbance of peace among the Nine Realms. Jotunheim wants your blood laid on their land. They call for bloodshed. War is amist. And did you not forget that the Chitauri are still looking for you? You have..._unfinished_ business with them, am I not correct?" Odin pauses, if Loki should to make a statement.

Loki stares wordlessly at the Allfather. He will say nothing. Nothing to satisfy him.

"You, Loki Odinson—"

"I am _not_ your son." Loki hisses at this. An uproar, this time comes from the many Asguardian citizens present in the room. Odin pounds his staff to silent them. Immediate silence takes over the huge room. The King of the Nine Realms looks calmly back at Loki, his expression unreadable. Yet besides him, there is a look of heartbreak on Frigga's face. Loki once again refuses to look at her.

"Very well, Loki _Laufeyson._" Odin corrects himself dryily.

Loki smiles as a reaction. A forced smile. A smile to cover it up. Was he upset? No, no, he's not upset. Smile. He just has to smile…

Odin announces, "Loki, because of your actions, we are at war with Jotunheim. Blood will be shed because of you. We cannot decide the punishment upon you, until the war is over. Depending on the countless lives that will be lost, it will bring your ultimate fate. So temporarily for now, you shall be sent to Midgard in temporary exile."

Loki hears Thor sigh (quite loudly) in relief. Even relief is on Frigga's face.

"However, we have forged magical bracelets from the Gnomes and best magic users of Asgard…"

This catches Loki's attention. The second best sorcerer in Asgard besides him that comes to mind is...Frigga. Loki finally looks at Frigga. Her eyes meet his and reads, _For your own good._ All Loki could think at that moment was, '_How could you, mother?'_

"...and these enchanted bracelets shall restrain your magic until your final trial. Until then, Thor will keep watch of you in Midgard, while war takes place at Asgard." Odin looks down at Loki, as Asguardian guards put the magical bracelets on Loki. Once they were on him, Loki immediately felt the power drained out of him. He felt...powerless. Vulnerable. _Nothing._ Loki could only stare at them.

"These bracelets cannot be taken off unless I say so. Not even the most powerful magic, spell, or strength can break them, so escape is inevitable." Odin states. He pounds his staff. "This trial is over." The rough hands of the guards grasp Loki's chains. Loki does his best to glare at them. "Any last words?"

Loki looks up at Odin and musters a smirk. "Thank you Odin. For giving me such a merciful sentence. You truly gave me another chance." He laughs, before taken away.


	2. To Be Shocked

**A/N: Wow, almost 100 views already! I'm so happy! I really, really wanted to write this story for a long time, but I was afraid not much people would read it. I was wrong! :D**

PrincessAnime8:I loved it! Can't wait to read more!

**Thanks so much! I really can't wait to write the rest of this fic! _**

Guest: Please continue with this story

**I'm way ahead of you friend. ;p Thanks for the review!**

* * *

**"But she wasn't around, and that's the thing when your parents die,**

**you feel like instead of going in to every fight with backup, you are going into every fight alone." **

_**― Mitch Albom, For One More Day**_

* * *

**~Chapter Two~**

Tony is a smart man, and he sure as hell knows this fact. He always answers the question because he knows what to say.

But for the first time in years, he is faced with a question that he can't find himself to answer.

"Who's going to take care of me?" The young girl asks Tony once the couple brought her inside Stark Tower. There is raw fear in her voice. Her eyes are flitting around, back and forth, not lingering on one place for too long. When Pepper and Tony lead the kid into their home, they realized that the young girl is blind. Which Tony found a little harder to deal with. Kids are not his forte. But a blind little girl? A little out of his comfort zone.

Pepper happens to walk into the room at that time, a mug of hot chocolate in her hand. She looks at Tony with a sad expression that reads, _What can we do?_ And goes to the girl. Pepper gives the girl the hot drink, and rubs her back. "Don't worry. We'll figure something out, I promise." Pepper says in a comforting voice. The woman was a natural, as expected. Tony smiled wryily at the warm scene.

"My name is Pepper." She says to the young girl with a warm smile. "Yours?"

The girl chugs down the hot chocolate with gladness. She looks up to Pepper, her eyes looking past her. "Aiyanna." She whispers. "My daddy told me that it means 'ever-blooming' in Native American." The little girl smiles at that fact. Pepper smiles as well.

"It's a very pretty name."

At this point, Tony tip-toes out of the room. He glances down at the envelope in his hand, and gives out a groan. _Damnit Jacob. Damnit. You seriously had to leave your kid to me beyond the grave. God. Always making things hard for me._ He thought. Tony rubbed his temples. One part of him is demanding that he had to take Aiyanna in. She had no one else to turn too. She's blind. Tony had to be frank with himself. Who would want a blind girl when she lands in the orphanage? Most of all, Jacob trusted the fact that Tony would take his daughter in.

The other part of Tony says that he is not ready. He's not cut out to be a father. Besides, kids need attention, discipline, responsibility, _love_...things that are foreign to Tony. From his experience, his parents just dropped him off at boarding school and took care of himself. How can he take care of a little girl when he himself had no idea how to parent? The other part of Tony makes another good point. _Loki is coming to crash at your place. And he murdered Jacob. _Tony's hands clench into fists remembering this. _What will he do to the kid? How will the kid react? You already have too much on your hands._

Tony sighs deeply, his first impulse getting a drink. He rummages through his cabinet, finding a half filled bottle of wine. Good enough. He takes off the top and takes a deep swig. An ugly but true fact appears in Tony's mind. _He is not father material._ 'Face it Tony.' He thought idly to himself. 'You drink, you're always not around, you can't express yourself, you have your own issues that you can't even deal with...you're the guy that has everything but you're not even sure if you could give a little girl a childhood she should have.'

"Tony?" A little girl's voice calls out.

The billionaire's head snaps up. H nearly drops his bottle, startled to see the sight of Aiyanna standing a few feet away. She pauses, and sniffs the air. Her nose wrinkles. "I smell wine...ew." She comments, sticking her tongue out.

Tony gives a lopsided smile at the girl. "Well, it's a grown-up's happy juice." _C'mon Pepper, where are you, I wanna be alone…_

Aiyanna manages to find her way to the counter. On her way getting to Tony, she clicks her tongue, or claps her hands.

Interested, Tony asks, "So you don't use a walking stick?"

"No." Aiyanna shakes her head, struggling to get up on the stool. Tony relents, helping the little girl up. She smiles innocently at Tony. He looks away, taking another swig. The kid just had to make his decision harder with those blind puppy dog eyes? Her legs dangle off the floor and swings back and forth, carefree. "My daddy said he didn't think I need a walking stick to get around. He said I'm just as capable as anyone else. And I believe him." Aiyanna explains to Tony, a proud, adoring gleam in her eyes when she speaks of her father.

_And how can I ever get that from her if I'm going to take her in?_ Tony thought absent-mindedly, listening closely to the girl.

"I use this way of 'seeing' called echolocation. Like a bat." Aiyanna smiles. "I like bats."

"Then I take you must be a fan of Batman?" Tony jokes half heartedly.

Aiyanna giggles. "Nooo, not really. I like Daredevil. He's so cool. He's blind like me. But he fights crime!" She exclaims, raising a little fist.

"Really? That sounds pretty interesting." Tony smiles, acting as if he knew what the kid was talking about. "Truth be told, I never heard of Daredevil."

The little girl gives out a gasp of shock. "You need to read it! We can read it together!" Her round face lights up excitedly at the thought.

Her excited energy got into Tony. "Alright then kiddo. We will."

Aiyanna's pale brown eyes crinkle up with gladness. "We will…" She repeats, swinging her legs even faster.

And that was an unsaid promise.

* * *

After the trial, Loki and Thor arrived back on Midgard. Words are unspoken between the brothers. And Loki preferred to keep it that way.

As they make their way through the long corridors of S.H.I.E.L.D's new base, a few times it looked as if Thor were about to say something to Loki. However, the trickster is sure to retaliate this by giving Thor such withering looks of spite that it shut the blonde Asguardian right up before he could say a word. Everytime the two brothers would walk by some S.H.I.E.L.D agents, they stopped in their tracks, staring at Loki as if he were an unwelcomed guest.

_Which is true._ Loki thought, glancing momentarily at the angered faces of a few agents standing off to the side. Finally, the two gods made it to Fury's office. Entering the room, the Asguardians find that in the corners of the room there are agents—guns pointed immediately at Loki. If Loki had his powers, he would had laughed at this, but he was almost near powerless.

Thor looks confused at the hostility that they displayed, and looks over to Nick Fury who is sitting at the desk, calmly looking at the two men. "Man of Fury, what is the meaning of this?" Thor questions. His hand is gripped tightly around his hammer, ready for anything. Nick glances over to Loki.

"He harmless like you say?"

"Yes. My brother is bounded to magical bracelets that limit him of his powers. He can do no harm with his magic."

Loki clenches his teeth when he heard Thor refer to him as that. But he holds his tongue. He is at the enemy's territory. Now is not the best time to have his mouth running off.

Nick raises an eyebrow. With his one eye he looks at the bracelets clasped around Loki's wrists. He nods to the agents. "Alright people. No threat here. You can leave." The agents warily put their guns away and walk out of the room, silent. Nick opens a drawer through his desk, taking something out a folder and a metal bracelet. He swings his legs up on the desk, opening the folder.

"From what I understand here Thor, your brother is exiled temporarily here on Earth. And that two other planets want his head." Nick glares at Loki momentarily. "Not like I blame them."

"Indeed, Sir Fury." Thor nods his head. "Jotunheim swears vengeance against my home, so they are in war with Asgard. As for the Chitauri, they are still searching for Loki, I fear."

"Well that's bad." Nick says, scowling. "We're gonna have to give him a new identity and low profile." He throws the folder on the desk, laid out open for the brothers to view. A picture of a man is inside the folder, along with papers of information. "This is who you will be for now on." Nick adresses Loki. "You will now be Logan Stark—"

"Are you saying that I have to act like that iron buffoon's brother?" Loki interrupts. His expression is set in disgust. As for Thor, he looks shocked.

"Sir Fury, is this necessary for my brother's safety?"

"—Correction Thor, I am Stark's brother now." Loki says in a mocking voice. Thor casts him a look of anger and hurt. Loki smirks, knowing he got under his former brother's skin, getting satisfaction out of something for once. If looks could kill, Nick definitely expressed that when he looked at Loki.

"I'm sorry to put it this way Thor, but if you want your brother to be safe, and most of all, alive by the time he has to return to Asgard, we gotta change everything."

Thor swallows, staring past Nick Fury. "I understand."

Nick points at the picture of the man inside of the folder. "Can Loki still perform some kind of permanent disguise spell, despite the bracelets?"

Loki narrows his eyes. "Of course. Disguise spells are simple and my speciality, and certainly don't go past the limitations of the bracelets. They only prevent me from doing dark or powerful spells. For example, like setting fire to the whole facility." Loki says the last part with a cruel, teasing smirk.

The commander of SHIELD jumps to his feet, an angered expression on his face. "You bastard," He seethes. "Ever threaten SHIELD and the agents in it, and you'll regret the day you set foot on our planet." Loki only replies with a smirk, though fear is rooted in his heart. He is powerless. Fury can do what he please with the exiled prince. Thor only looks on worriedly between the two men. He steps in between them.

"Fury, his threats are empty. Please, pardon his choosing of words." Thor says apologetically.

Still glaring with his one eye, Fury calms down. "Well. I need your brother to change his appearance."

"Isn't asking me to make it permanent a little too much?" Loki asks dryily.

Fury casts him a look of spite. "Make it snappy Magic Man."

Loki rolls his eyes, but knows better not to take Fury's word lightly. He concentrates his energy into his new appearance as he's seen in the picture, muttering some chants under his breath. A warmth rolls over his body, like a cloak. After a the moment of warmth has past, Loki's eyes flies open. He feels no different than he did before, but Fury and Thor are looking at him a little surprised at the change of his appearance.

"Logan _Stark,_" Loki spats the last part out with discontent. "At your service."

Thor couldn't help but be startled at his brother's new look. He can recognize his younger brother's cocky mannerisms and sarcastic demeanor through his new appearance. Loki now had tousled messy black hair, tanned colored skin, and dark green hazel eyes, just like the man in the picture. He couldn't help but wonder if this is enough to keep him hidden from those who wanted to take Loki's life...

Nick Fury snorts, satisfied. "Good. At least I don't need to see your ugly pale ass face anymore."

Loki can only glare at Fury, as he walks over to them with the silver bracelet. Without asking, he kneels down to Loki's, latching the bracelet onto his ankle. Loki's nostrils flare, and he resisted the impulse to kick Fury in the nose, knowing it will earn him his end.

"Take this infernal device off me!" Loki shrieks, his new green eyes flashing.

The commander ignores Loki's small tantrum, standing back up to his feet, his arms crossed on his chest. "This is a tracking device." Fury states. "No matter where you go, Loki, you will always be under SHIELD's watch. You cannot go beyond 100 yards of Stark Tower. If you do, electrical shocks will be sent through you."

Loki sneers. "What are these 'electrical' shocks you speak—"

_BZZZZZTTT!_

A sudden, foreign vibration goes through Loki's body, traveling up and down. It was like his magic, only it caused him more pain. Loki nearly jumps to the ceiling. "AAAARRRggggghHHHH!" he screams bloody murder at the top of his lungs. "BY THE NORNS!"

"Brother!" Thor exclaims anxiously. "Did that hurt?!"

"BY THE ALLFATHER, IT OBVIOUSLY DID YOU INCOMPETENT FOOL!" Loki yells, feeling that his leg is now twitching from the shock.

Fury cracks a smile for the first time, waving a remote in Loki's face. "And _that_ is the power of technology. A _shocking_ discovery, isn't it! HA!" Nick slaps his leg, proud of the pun he made. Thor could only look at him funny, clearly not getting the joke, but Loki getting it perfectly well.

The god of mischief hisses angrily, feeling the metal against his skin. Damn these mortals…if only he had all of his magic, he would've been able to blow up that remote in Fury's smug face. Nick Fury smiles in satisfaction, sitting back on his desk.

"Case closed. For tonight, you'll stay at a hotel so that we can get you into the system and your papers ready. All I can wish you Loki, is to have an unenjoyable time in our humble planet. Now get outta my office, both of you." Fury orders, waving them away.


	3. To Be Sure

**A/N: ERMAGAD, around 260 views! And 17 follows with 10 favorites! Thanks soo much guys! I know things are little slow in the first couple chapters, and I'm so ansty getting to write Loki interacting with Aiyanna! :D:D **

**A shout out to those followers: **_**6FtUnderTheStars, 112025yram, Calliope's Scribe, CelesteUzumaki2718, Echoflame of FireClan, PrincessAnime8, RedEyedSurprise, SeleneAlice, TheMostRandomOfRandomWriters, TheOneandOnlyGodessofAwesome, Whovian Wolf, blushingpixie, iamgoku, macromea, msroe00, sallysal9, shadowkitten11**_**. **

**And of cooourrsssee we can't forget our favoriters! (is that even a word?!) **_**6FtUnderTheStars, purelily12, 112025yram, Calliope's Scribe, G-Tri, SeleneAlice, blushingpixie, iamgoku, macromea, shadowkitten11, tattoos-ofawingedangel**_

**Thanks all of you guys! Your support really invigorates me! :D**

iamgoku:I love Aiyanna SHE'S SO CUTE.

Love the Deadpool reference

Hilarious loki scenes I laughed so much

Can't wait to see Tony's reaction

**Thanks a lot of reviewing! And I'm glad that you like Aiyanna. I love that little dear too already. XD And...I don't recall writing a Deadpool reference. o3o Care to point it out for me? Don't worry friend, I'll dish up more funny Loki scenes in the future! ;D**

* * *

**One of the greatest titles in the world is parent, and one of the biggest blessings in the world,**

**is to have parents to call mom and dad.**  
_**-Jim DeMint**_

* * *

**~Chapter Three~**

"You have a really big house." Aiyanna comments, her eyes wide as she, Tony, and Pepper walk down the hallway of Stark Tower. Outside the glass windows is the city outline, colorful lights illuminating the environment accompanied from the loud drilling and working of construction workers. Tony would've preferred to admire the city scene from the top floor, but it was still being renovated like the city. Though New York was still functional, it had a long way to go fixing the damaged streets and buildings from the destruction of the Chitauri and Loki.

Tony feels his blood boil in anger and irritation when he thought of Thor's brother. The guy pushed him out the window for god's sake, and the fact that he caused the demolition of his beloved tower. Not to mention that he was going to become a long time house guest...

"How can you tell?" Pepper asks, her voice bringing Tony out of his troubled thoughts.

Aiyanna's face brightens up, as if she knew some kind of secret that others are yet to discover. "I can tell from our footsteps echoing through the hallway. I'm like the superhero, Daredevil!" She says proudly. "Remember Tony?" The girl glances over to the billionaire eagerly.

He couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, I remember. I already ordered the comics." Aiyanna gasps excitedly at this, and clasps her hands. "And it ain't just a big house kid. It's a freaking tower." He says with pride.

Aiyanna's pale eyes widen, her mouth forming in a shape of a small 'o.' "Wooowwwww." She whispers in awe. "You and Pepper live here all by yourselves? How can you live in such a huge place?"

Pepper gives a laugh light at the girl's innocent questions. "We don't use _all_ of the floors. There are seventy floors in all in the Stark Tower." Aiyanna's face is agape in a childish wonder. "Tony and I own three floors of the Tower. The other three are used for the Avengers' base, where a couple of the teammates live. Then there's one floor reserved for a...guest." Pepper's face grimaces, and Tony knew who she was talking about. Loki.

The assistant CEO continues, "And for the rest of the floors, they are used for Stark Corporation purposes."

"You guys have a lot of money." Aiyanna states, obviously impressed.

"Hell right we do," Tony chuckles.

"You said a swear word!" Aiyanna exclaims, gasping at his use of a swear word.

He turns red when Pepper casts him reprimanding glare. "Erm, I meant 'heck' right. Hehe...pardon my french."

The three finally make it to a guest bedroom. Pepper turns out a beige lamp placed on a little white table placed beside a big-sized bed. "This'll be your room for the night." She says, leading Aiyanna over to the bed. Aiyanna climbs up on the bed. Her hands stroke and feel the blankets, as she gets the feel of her new environment.

"What are you guys gonna do with me?" Aiyanna asks, kicking off her shoes and socks. "Are you going to send me to the orphanage."

Pepper glances over to Tony, a little shocked by the girl's frankness. She turns back to Aiyanna, pulling back the covers. "To be honest Aiyanna, we don't know." Pepper says truthfully. "One thing for sure, we won't let you go to the orphanage. We'll find someone to take care of you, that I promise." She ruffles Aiyanna's hair affectionately.

Aiyanna smiles, her eyes looking past Pepper. In a way, they seemed to be looking at Tony. They seemed full of a child-like hope and naivety that made him feel guilty for some reason. She lies back in the bed, as Pepper tucks her in. _She treats her as if she were our own kid._ Tony thought, getting a quick image of them having their own kid. It sends an uncomfortable feeling of unsurness up his back. Tony _hates _the feeling of being unsure.

"Good night hon." Pepper, kisses Aiyanna's forehead. Tony stays unmoving from the doorway. There was something holding him back. An instinct that tells him, _Don't get too close. You're not even sure if you want to keep her. _And Tony follows it.

"Yeah kid, goodnight. Don't let the bedbugs bite." Tony says, and pulls Pepper out to the hallway. They quietly close the door shut and walk down to the living room in silence. When they both seated on the couch, they look at each other, uncertainty both in them.

"Peps, I don't know what to do." Tony confesses. His eyes trail down the hallway. "I mean, with Thor and Loki coming tomorrow to live with us, is it smart to keep a kid in our hands? We're not exactly the definition of normal."

Pepper smiles, giving at least some comfort to Tony. "Tony, there's no such thing as a _normal_ family. Didn't you hear? 'Abnormal is the new trend.'" Pepper quotes jokingly.

Tony cracks a smile. "Really? Looks like I'm left behind with today's hot stuff." He pulls Pepper in his arms, their bodies leaned against each other. He smells the familiar scent of Pepper's mango shampoo in her blonde hair, filling him with sureness, like everything is right.

He hears Pepper sigh saying, "Tony, I'm not even sure myself if we're ready to take care of a kid. I won't always be there for her. With work and everything, I don't think I'll make a good mom…" Pepper trails off. Tony pulls back, an incredulous look on his face.

"_Pepper._ You are a woman of wonder. You're the almost CEO of Stark corporations,"

This gets a questioning eyebrow raise from Pepper, but a smile is playing on her lips.

"You're the girlfriend of _the_ Tony Stark. And you have to put up with me and a couple of Avengers every-fucking day and you never complain."

Pepper rolls her eyes. "That took quite a lot of patience and personal training from me." She laughs. Tony kisses her of the nose.

"Woman, you are a miracle worker. So don't tell me that you can't deal with taking care of a kid. You were a natural!" Tony exclaims, earning a blush from Pepper. "You would make a great mom-on-the-go type of person. Unlike me. I'm not sure if I could be a good father."

Tony's partner frowns. "I'm sure at some point, a man in a relationship feels like that. That they're not ready." She places her head upon Tony's chest, yawning. "Even though I'm not sure if we should keep Aiyanna, there's that motherly instinct screeching at me to take her in." Pepper gently takes Tony's hand. "At least, that's what I think. If we're going to make a decision, we're going to have to make it as a _couple._" Tony smiles down at Pepper.

"I love it when you put the 'we' into it." He says before embracing Pepper into a deep kiss. The two are cuddling and kissing deeply for a minute, before JARVIS interrupts once again.

"Pardon me sir for intruding. But there are policemen out on the doorstep asking to see you."

Tony parts from Pepper, a disappointed feeling taking place in his chest. He stands up from the couch. "Aren't we haven't a lot of unexpected guests on this fine night? Welp! Okay-dokey!" He claps his hands. "Let's pay them a visit! JARVIS, tell them that we'll be down there in a few!"

* * *

Loki felt peculiar entering the hotel without anybody recognizing him. And that he wasn't bounded anymore. He grimaces at the memory of being tied up like some kind of animal, as he rubs his still-sore wrists. When he and Thor entered the hotel, a couple of people immediately came up to them, leading them away from the crowds of other hotel guests. They lead the two upstairs, to an empty floor all reserved for the two Asguardians.

Once they left, Loki immediately makes a beeline into a room next to him, locking it shut behind him. He knew it was useless, since Thor can easily knock the door down with his godly strength. Loki couldn't help but press his ear up on the door, hearing the heavy breathing of Thor. He is still standing in front of his door, hesitant. Loki got the feeling that he wanted to say something. But Thor decides from that, and finally walks away from the door.

The Jotun-Prince couldn't help but sigh in relief. He at least wanted one night without any drama or dealing with his brother. Oh, he was going to get plenty of _that_ when he arrives at Stark Tower tomorrow. Plenty of drama awaiting him!

Loki makes his way to the windows, displaying the scene of the city before him. There were people called, 'construction workers,' working on some buildings from the aftermath destruction of his invasion. His eyes caught onto a shrine that Midguardians make, near a lamppost. When he sees the shrine, he immediately wanted to look away. Because the Midguardian shrine is usually for a mortal who _died._ But Loki couldn't look away.

Near the shrine is a mother and a son. The son is clutching some flowers in his hands, with a toy truck in the other. On the lamp post is a picture of a young boy with messy blonde hair. He is frozen in the picture with a bright smile on his face. Below his picture are candles, stuffed toys, or cards. Loki reads a sign placed below the picture. _**Mark Grace. A great brother, son, and friend. Died on October 9, 2012. Hearts go out to him. **_A stabbing feeling over takes Loki. _What is this?_ He wondered briefly, looking at the scene of the mourning boy and mother.

_Ah yes. October 9th is the day where I brought Chitauri here…_ Loki's mind trails off. He watches the boy, place the flowers and toy next to a blue candle. The young mortal buries his face into the mother's arms. The mother is clearly crying. She leans in to the picture and kisses in gently. Loki feels numb watching the two Midguardians. Once they paid their tribute to the shrine, they walk away.

The exiled prince walks to a red couch near him, his mind blank. He sits down, staring up at the ceiling. _Mark Grace._ He thought, remembering the dead mortal that his family was mourning too. _One of the many unfortunate victims from _my _invasion…_ Loki tries erasing these poisonous thoughts from his head. _No, no Loki, you do not feel any regret for what you did. It was your decision alone. Feeling sorry will not bring the dead back to life._

Loki tries erasing the regret lingering in his chest. _Besides, you did that Midguardian child a favor. Mortals have such short lifespans compared to Asguardians. They are inferior in every way. _For some reason, he remembered Thor's teammates, The Avengers. All of them are Midguardian. _They are mortals yet they beaten you._ Another voice whispers into his head.

The black haired Asguardian balls up his hands into fists. Why won't these thoughts stop? They are making him feel weak. Pathetic. _Shitty_ as Midguardian terms would put it. With a final, firm thought Loki told himself, _Midguardians are ants that can be squashed. There are no consequences to their meaningless deaths. I feel no regret. _The thought holds empty meaning to Loki.

He proceeds to exploring the room. He discovers near his bed a strange Midguardian device that holds coldness inside it. When rummaging its contents, Loki discovered things like, 'Coca-Cola, Snickers, Ice cream, and beef jerky.' The Coca-Cola looked like Asguardian brew to Loki and the beef jerky is, well, beef. Loki settled for the two Midguardian foods, and walks back to the couch.

He looks out the window once again, up at the night sky. As expected, he sees no wonderous sights of shining stars, planets, or galaxies. Just a blank, black nothing. Midgard miserably fails in showing a night sky scenery compared to Asgard. Loki's heart pangs with longing, thinking of his home. But it quickly hardens with resolve.

_I no longer belong there._ Loki thought stalely to himself. _There is no place for me. There's no place where someone wants me. _

He rips himself away from the windows, getting to work on his provisions. He rips open the beef jerky very easily along with the Coca-Cola. As he absent mindedly nibbles the jerky, he wondered how he was going to spend his time in Midgard as Asgard fights in war. _No thanks to me._ Loki thought gloomily, quickly consuming a third bag of jerky. It was surprisingly addicting.

* * *

Tony and Pepper made it to the doorstep, and are greeted with two policemen waiting outside. "Sorry to disturb you at this time of our Mr. Stark." A tall, lanky policeman apologizes, tipping his hat. "My name is Officer Jones, and this is my partner, Offer Nick." The other man tips his hat as well. Officer Jones, takes out a small book and shows it to Tony and Pepper.

"Witnesses and cameras tell us that a blind ten year old girl named Aiyanna Williams has wandered over to this area. She is an orphan that recently arrived from Germany. When she arrived at the airport in New York, she took off saying that she'll come to you." Tony looks down at a profile of Aiyanna inside the officer's book.

"Yup. She's in my tower, sleeping."

"That's good to hear." Officer Nick chimes in. "We can take the girl off your hands and take her to Social Services."

Tony pauses for a moment. He looks over to Pepper, who is looking at him with a warm confidence in him.

He hears Officer Jones say, "She must've been a real bother to you Mr. Stark, we apologize for that."

The playboy billionaire turns back to the officers, with a confident smile, now feeling sure. "Nah, she wasn't any trouble. In fact, she's almost like our flesh and blood. Cuz' we'll be taking care of her."

* * *

**A/N: And so you see Regretful!Loki and Unsure!Tony. There's gonna be Father!Tony and Family!Avengers in the next chapter! Can we get at least six reviewssssss? That'll be awesome and it'll really pump me up! Thanks!**


	4. To Be Scared

**A/N: Holy sh-mow, sh-mow. 10 reviews! And only three chapters yet over 500 people read, 'To Be A Friend!' Thanks so much for the support guys, I'm glad that ya'll enjoying the stories!**

Snarky-Teen:Very well written. Update soon!

**Thanks! And I love your username! :D**

Echolflame of a Fireclan:Heyyloooooo

Sorry for not reviewing the earlier chapters. I read them on my nook and my nook hates internet so I'm lucky I found your story in the first place!

I love this. I love all Loki fluffy fics, to be honest, because duh loki and duh fluff.

Aiyanna is just heart-melting, and her name is so pretty. Where did you hear that?

Eagerly awaiting a next chapter, keep it up!

**Yeah, I love fics where Loki is on his path to redemption and stuff like that. X3 I'm glad that you like Aiyanna so far! I dunno, one day I was creating a character and wanted them to be Native American. So I searched up a bunch of Native American names and found the name Aiyanna. When I was writing this fic, I thought, 'Ya know what, I'ma just use this name.' So that's how it came to be. The internet is wonderous. **

iamgoku:Haha sorry , I meant daredevil reference

Can't wait for some family avengers moments , I think Thor would be great with her, and Natasha .

Loki's feeling conflicted , I wonder what he'll do when he meets Aiyanna , will the guilt build !

**I can't wait to get to the moment where Loki and Aiyanna meet-but I don't wanna rush things. Because of that, in the next couple of chapters I'm going to build up Aiyanna's relationship with the Avengers. And the lil' kid still has her grieving to face with her dad…**

Guest: Cant wait for the next update

**Well, here ya go!**

1248: This story had lots of potential, i love it :)

**Thanks! Hope you keep on reading! :D**

Princess Prettypants:I am glad to see Tony stepping up to the plate and wanting to take care of Aiyanna. Also, nice to see Loki become aware and somewhat regretful of his actions.

**Yesssshhh, I just love playing with the god of mischief's emotions. XD But I realize that I have to make his actions justified in this fic. Cuz' from what I read and analyzed from the movies, it seems that Loki didn't want to invade Midgard on his own accord...the guy honestly needs some justification. XD**

TheOneandOnlyGodessofAwesome:So awesome! I love your story! Aiyanna is so cuteeee! Love you! 3

**It's awesome that you like Aiyanna, that innocent little dear. Love ya too boo. ;3**

* * *

**"Childhood should be carefree, playing in the sun; not living a nightmare in the darkness of the soul." **

_**― Dave Pelzer, A Child Called "It"**_

* * *

**~Chapter Four~**

It wasn't uncommon for Tony to wake up randomly around two in the morning to get a drink. _A drink of water._ Tony corrects himself, glancing over to a sleeping Pepper. He slips on his slippers and shuffles sluggishly out into the hallway. His mind wanders over to the meetings with Social Services later on in the day, Loki and Thor coming over to his place to crash, and having to break the news to the rest of the Avengers crew. Tony groans, rubbing his head. It was going to be a long day…

As the billionaire walks leisurely through the hallway, he hears a soft sound of someone...crying. Tony stops, frowning. The sound of crying continues. He continues walking down the hallway, a little cautious. The soft noise gets louder. Realization hits Tony. It's coming from Aiyanna's room.

Hesitant, Tony stops in front of her door. He couldn't help but wince when he hears the young girl continue her crying. He knocks lightly on the door. "Kiddo, you...okay?" Tony asks. The crying noise stops. A few seconds, the door creaks open, revealing Aiyanna. Her face is tear streaked and her eyes red and puffy. She's hiccuping softly, shivering.

"I'm...s-sorry," Aiyanna hiccups. "I made accident." Tony peers over her shoulder, and tries to cover his grimacing expression when he saw a wet dark patch on the bed. He suddenly notices that Aiyanna's pants are wet as well. _Damnit, I don't have any spare clothes for her..._Tony ruffles his hair, and manages a smile.

"It's okay kid. Erm, how bout' we go to the kitchen? I was going to have a midnight snack, y'know?" Tony leads a sniffling Aiyanna to the kitchen. He carefully looks at her closely. _She must be grieving over her dad…_ Suddenly, Tony wondered how he felt when his parents died from the car crash. All he could remember was...an emptiness. Lots of drinking. Work. Learning even more useless stuff from school. His parents' death didn't had a huge impact on Tony. Half of his life he has been boarded and shipped off at a rich boarding school. But Tony remembered that he couldn't help but feel that there's a huge fat blank in his life. And he still didn't get over that huge fat blank.

When the two arrived at the kitchen, Tony decided to heat up some water. Sometimes, hot chocolate is the best drink at times. As he was preparing their drinks, Tony wondered how if he should ask Aiyanna what she felt about her father's death. _Hell, does she even want to talk about it? _Tony felt his stomach lurch at the idea of talking and analyzing a little girl's feelings about her dad's death. _I'm not a therapist. You should just wait out the storm._ Tony scooped up some cocoa powder into two white mugs. He didn't find the idea of 'waiting it out' quite appealing. He knew at some point that he would have to ask Aiyanna what she really felt.

The billionaire hands the girl a mug of the steaming hot chocolate. Aiyanna's hand reaches out, and she manages to grasp the mug. "Thanks." Aiyanna sniffs, gulping down the drink. Her hiccups finally subsided. The ever talkative Tony Stark who would always make a commentary and couldn't stand a quiet moment, sits in silence at the counter with a blind little girl as they drink hot chocolate.

"I had a nightmare." Aiyanna suddenly says. "I had a nightmare about my daddy. I was in the dark. People were screaming and yelling. They were loud, so loud." Aiyanna shivers. "I can feel my hand in daddy's hand. He was telling me that everything was going to be okay. I can hear another voice. His voice was sharp. Cold. It was the color of ice." Tony then gets the feeling who the girl was talking about. Loki.

"He was so mean to daddy. He was telling him that he should kneel. My daddy said no. Then I saw a bright blue light. And then I couldn't feel my daddy's hand anymore." Her eyes water. "I was so, so scared. I was in the dark. People kept on screaming, louder, louder. I was yelling for daddy. He wouldn't answer. And I heard laughing from Him. And I woke up."

Tony is quiet for a moment. He says, "You dreamt of your father's death, didn't you?"

Aiyanna nods, staring down at her mug.

"Is that what happened? When...your father passed?"

Aiyanna nods once again, her lips tight. "We were going to a restaurant for my birthday."

Tony feels a sinking feeling in his stomach. "It was your...birthday when it happened?" He swallowed.

"Yeah…" Aiyanna confirms it, sounding far away. "I just turned ten years old. I don't feel like a ten year old. I wanna be a baby again. I want my daddy to take care of me." Tony could only listen, wordless. All he thought was, _That's gotta be the worst birthday present ever. Damn. Damnit all. Damnit all to hell. _Her eyes close, tight. "I couldn't sleep after the nightmare. I'm so scared Tony..." She admits.

Tony puts his hand on Aiyanna's shoulder. "Kid, it's okay to be...scared. _Hell,_ even I get scared!" He leans in to Aiyanna whispering in a secretive voice, "Now don't tell Pepper I sweared now...and the fact that I actually get scared." Aiyanna cracks a smile, giggling. "There's no need to be scared of a nightmare...it's...all passed now..." Tony trails off, not sure what to continue.

But Aiyanna goes into her talkative mode. "There were times when my daddy and I were up this late." Aiyanna pauses, her pale eyes glazing over at the memory of her parent. "There's nights like these where we couldn't sleep, so we'd drink hot chocolate and eat toffee while watching a movie." Aiyanna smiles at this. "It was so fun."

"I guess. There's a lot of times where I would randomly wake up in the middle of night to grab the drink." Tony glances out the window. "But when you're in New York kid, the city never sleeps."

The two are silent for another moment. "I wonder where my daddy is right now," Aiyanna says aloud. Tony is unsure how to respond to this. What should he tell her? That he's flying in the clouds as a winged man with a harp? Tell her that he's gone for good and not coming back? Tell her that he's in the morgue where his corpse is getting examined? To his relief, Aiyanna continues talking not waiting for an explanation from him. "Sometimes he stays out really late for work. Then he'd come back in the middle of the night and he tells me all about his research and stuff. I don't get it, but it was fun hearing daddy talking to me. I like the sound of his voice. When he talks, it's like seeing fireworks of red and blue. His voice is like a bass. It was deep and formal. I want to hear his voice." Aiyanna chatters off. Tony could only listen.

"Aiyanna, you can see colors when people talk?" Tony questions, seeing a pattern when Aiyanna talks about people's voices.

"Yeah. Daddy said I had a special condition." Aiyanna spins the mug in her hands. "He said it's called, 'sinny-thetia.'"

"You mean synesthesia." Tony smiles, correcting the little girl.

"Yep." Aiyanna swings her little legs back and forth. "I see colors when I hear people talk and sounds. Like your voice Tony. When I hear your voice, I see zaps and flashes of red and yellow. They're like explosions."

_That explains why she said that Pepper's voice sounded like honey or something when we first met her…_ Tony thought, things making sense now. "That's a pretty neat condition."

"I know!" Aiyanna agrees. Tony is glad that she seems to be forgetting about her grief momentarily taking place ago. Now that he thinks of it, he has no absolute idea how kids grieve. Especially over the death of one's parent. "Because of sinny-thesia, I can play the piano really good! My dad loves it when I play the piano!" Aiyanna goes quiet for a second when she speaks of her father. It disappears with a smile. "I'm making a song for his funeral."

"Hmm." Tony could only comment. He gets up. "Okay kid, well let's get back to bed. I'll put you in a different room and give you a huge shirt to wear…" He stops seeing the frightened face of Aiyanna. "What's the matter?"

"...Can I sleep with you and Pepper?" She whispers, wide-eyed.

Awkwardness strucks Tony. He tries swatting this away. _The kid is still grieving. _"Sure. Let's get you one of my huge T-shirts so that you can change." He says, nodding. Aiyanna's face blooms into gladness as she follows Tony down the hallway for a new change of clothes.

* * *

"_**You think you know **_**pain**_**?"**_ _Loki hears the cold whispery voice of The Other hiss into his ear. Never had he felt this close to death before. Loki's heart is beating fast. But he musn't show fear. He musn't show weakness… _"_**We will make you know something as sweet as **_**PAIN.**" _And that's when Loki felt a cold slap the side of his face. A cold that isn't of Frost Giants or a snowstorm - no, no...it was true cold that made him shiver up and down his spine._

* * *

_The environment around Loki changes. He is suddenly staring down at the swirling, colorful abyss below him. He is hanging by Gunjir. Loki glances up, seeing Thor and Odin staring down at him. Desperation is in his older brother's eyes, as he clings to Odin's staff with all of his might. He wasn't going to let go._

_Loki looked around at the destroyed Bifrost. He was almost there. So sickingly close. He didn't even accomplish what he set out for. All he caused was mischief and destruction. _As always. _Thoughts fly wildly through Loki's mind. His actions are justified...right? He will be forgiven...right? The Allfather would at least understand him! "I could've done it!" Loki yelled, at the brink of desperation. All he needs reassurance, reassurance from his father. Like Thor he would probably be exiled or imprisoned, but his actions are justified...right?! "I could've done it!" Loki repeated, seeing disappointment crinkling up on Odin's ancient face._

_No, no, no, NO, not disappoinment! Loki's eyes water, as he rapidly tries to blink it away. "I could've done it for _you. _I could've done it _for all of us!" _Loki felt like child, the way he was trying to explain it to Odin after he pranked someone or blew up something. Please, please, please… Loki repeated to himself, awaiting Odin's statement._

_And all he simply said was, _"_**No Loki."**_

_And Loki sweared that the whole world just shattered. 'No Loki,' these cruel words echo in the trickster's mind. He...rejected what Loki did. All in his father's name. Everything he did was _NOTHING _to the Allfather. Everything…_

_Loki stared up at his father. It's not worth it anymore. Unconsciously, he let his hand to start slipping…_

_Thor's eyes widen, knowing what his younger brother was planning to do. "Loki...no!"_

_Still staring at the Allfather Loki thought bitterly if his father could read minds, 'This was your doing old man.' And he lets go. The figures of his father and brother grow smaller as he falls faster and faster into the colorful abyss below him. Loki closes his eyes as he fells air rush past him. He feels light-headed, numb. _

_At the last second before Loki disappears into the portal he suddenly thought, 'I don't want to die like this.' _

_And everything goes blank._

* * *

_The scene changes once again. Loki finds himself on the planet of the Chitauri. Then _He _appears before him. The Other. He smiles coldly at Loki. _"_**Hello, former ex-prince of Asgard. We have been expecting you."**_ _He hisses like a snake. Loki was too tired to be afraid. _

"_What do you possibly want from me…?"_

"_**Your service. We, the Chitauri, want you to invade Earth and get the Tesseract that is under their possession."**_

"_And what did Midgard ever do to me? What do _I _get out of it? Why should I help you?" Loki rasps. _

_A deadly look takes over The Other's face. His cold icy fingers suddenly grab Loki's chin. He gasps, a freezing pain traveling down his body. _"_**Do not use that cocky tone with me, Frost Giant."**_ _The Other spats, and smirks seeing Loki wince when he addressed the Asguardian for what he really was. _"_**Us Chitauri should probably reform that...behavior of yours. Let us show you our true hospitality." **_

_Loki's eyes widen in terror as rough huge hands seize his arms, dragging him away to the Allfather knows where._

* * *

_Loki is tired. He's in pain. He has no idea how long he was trapped on the forsaken planet of the Chitauri. Like The Other promised, the aliens taught him 'behavior lessons.' Loki's mind sears with pain from the memory of hot metal against his skin…_

"_**Convinced now, Loki? That is just the beginning of one of our many methods…"**_ _The Other snarls. True fear strucks Loki. They meant to inflict _true_ pain_. "_**Now that we seem to have your full will and cooperation, we want you to lead Chitauri troops into Earth to get the Tesseract. And if you're wondering what to get out of it, well, you get a whole planet to rule and bow down to your every whim. You know how mortals are so weak and feral. They need control. Someone like you."**_

_The Other's voice drips with promise to Loki. Loki shuts his eyes. Though the off sounds appealing, the idea was preposterous Invade a planet? Too many casualities will occur. Too many factors that will happen that Loki can't predict. Taking over a realm would take years of planning for Loki...but for The Other, it seemed that he _demanded _that Loki charges into Midgard as soon as possible._

"_**And what is this newfound love for the Midguardians? Why should you care how much you kill off? Their lives are so short. They are ants that can be squashed."**_

'_From their age, Asguardians consider mortals to be children.' __Loki thought silently. Taking over Earth would be like kicking a whole bunch of children. Billions worth of children. _

"_**Well, whether or not, you will **_**heed."** _The Other hisses, circling Loki. _"_**One way or another, you will bow to our every command without question...for no one can save you now. No one cares for a monster." **__The Other taunts. And his words couldn't help but crawl under Loki's skin._

'_He's right.' He thought faintly. 'There is no place for me...'_

* * *

Loki's eyes fly open. He finds himself on the couch still, surrounded by dozens of empty beef jerky bags and vacant glass Coca-Cola bottles. Loki stares up at the ceiling, dazed. Midguardian food is addicting, but it had funny effects on him…

He rubbed his forehead, sitting up. He shudders at his dream. Why would he think of that..._him_…? Loki smiles bitterly to himself. Well. It's only a matter of time before they find him. He's a walking dead man...Loki sits in the dark gazing silently out of the window.

And it hits him...he's _scared__._ He doesn't want to die by the hands of the Chitauri. Loki laughs weakly. Why does he have this will to keep on living? Didn't he say that it just wasn't worth it anymore...?

* * *

**A/N: I know, I know guys, I said that there was going to be Family!Avengers. Well, I changed my mind. XD At least you got to see Father!Tony. I wanted to explore Loki's actions to why he tried to enslave humanity and his true motives in this chapter, not to mention that I needed to remind you readers the grief that Aiyanna still has to face. Yeah, I just love torturing you peeps. X) Reviews please!**


	5. To Be Well Met

.9:  Really, really good story! Keep updating! And i love Aiyanna 3

**Aiyanna and I give you our thanks! X3 *blows a kiss* Thanks for the review!**

meezzieb1:Aww love the little communication with tony! Awww!

**Thanks! I'm trying to build up their relationship...slowly but surely.**

PrincessAnime8:I can't wait for loki to meet the little girl. (Forgive me, her name escapes me at the moment)

**Me too! I'm itching to write them meet as well! (Her name is Aiyanna btw ;)**

TheOneAndOnlyGoddessofAwesome:

A) It's spelled as Gungnir not Gunjir.

B) AHHHHHHHHHHHH THERE WAS SO MUCH ANGST I CAN'T EVEN JDHJFJFJFJDJSDJHFHDMXKVOGIFDUHS DX

**A) Whoops, I'll fix that cX**

**B) Yeah, I love hitting you readings with the feels. _ Da feels.**

Echoflame of Fireclan:NOOOOOOO

LOKI HAS TO MEET AIYANNA

i know, i know, premonition is important.

they meet next chapter. deal? please please please please please?

Anyhoo, I love this story. Your update speed impresses me!

**Shhhhh, I know. *strokes head very creepily* Patience is a virture dear reader...And I'm trying my best to update every night! :D**

* * *

**"A DEFINITION NOT FOUND**  
**IN THE DICTIONARY**  
**Not leaving: an act of trust and love,**  
**often deciphered by children"**  
**_― Markus Zusak, The Book Thief_**

* * *

**~Chapter Five~**

Steve hated it when an Avenger keep things from the rest of the team. Unless it was extremely personal and/or top secret from S.H.I.E.L.D (in Clint and Natasha's case), the teams needs to be kept up to date _as a crew._

The Cap knew there was something up from the get-go when he and Bruce finds the Black Widow and Hawkeye sitting at the table 7:00 in the morning, drinking coffee as if thee belonged there. Not like Steve wasn't glad for their visit, he thought that the assassins were on a mission in Greenland or something. Those two assassins barely hung around after the invasion incident, and left immediately after for another mission that S.H.I.E.L.D had in store for them.

"Jesus, you scared us." Bruce comments, his shoulders relaxing to see the familiar spies. He takes a cup from a cabinet, though Steve can see the scientist eyeing Natasha's precious twin guns that are casually sitting on the table. Steve frowned at him, wanting to correct him for using the Lord's name in vain (old habits die hard). But now's not the best time…

"Hey, what's with the surprise visit?" Steve questions, taking a box of cornflakes from the cabinet after Bruce takes his place at the table with Natasha and Clint.

Clint takes a long sip from his coffee before answering. "Well, while Tash and I were in Greenland on a mission, S.H.I.E.L.D just randomly called us in. Said that we're needed here for top security." He stirs his spoon around in his drink idly, dumping in a packet of sugar. "Whatever that meant."

Steve and Bruce glance over to each other, wondering if Tony knew about this. Aside from that, they take their place at the table, eating in silence with each other. As Steve was eating, he got a feeling that something was _up._ But he couldn't really decide it...until Tony Stark, a team mate that Steve can still not see quite eye to eye with, came up to the Avengers floors dressed up _in a business suit._ All of The Avengers ceased their breakfast activity, staring dubiously at Tony's flashy outfit.

A) Steve knew that Tony would not dress up so formally for his team mates and: B) It meant that the guy had something up. Tony rubs his hands, pulling a seat up at the table. "Hello fellow mates! How's it going? Like the coffee? Came from Columbia itself, imported!"

"Cut the crap Stark, I'm not here to waste my service anytime." Natasha says flatly, her voice devoid of any humor.

Tony flashes a smirk, but to Steve's observation, fidgeted under the Widow's hard gaze. "Haha, good to see you too Tash. Well! It's good to see everyone at the round table! _Almost _everyone." Tony glances over at the cabinet where Thor declared it to be his Pop Tart stash. "Here's the news that all of you have been waiting for—Thor's coming over!" This statement hangs in the air.

Once again, more stares from the team.

"Look Mr. CEO, Fury would not interrupt a mission and send us here to your tower for no reason. As much as it's nice and unexpected for Thunderman to come back to Earth for a visit, that doesn't really send a threat signal to the eyes of S.H.I.E.L.D. You're hiding something from us." Clint looks sharply at Tony. "Spill it now."

"Okay." Tony pauses, stroking his goatee. "Thor's coming over with our one and only favorite guy, Loki."

Another silence.

"Tony, how long did you know this?" Steve asks slowly. You can expect that Captain America was not pleased to hear the last minute news from Tony that Loki, the hostile alien foreigner that tried to take over Earth a couple of days ago, is coming to live at Stark Tower with Thor.

He raises his hand defensively under the hostile glares and stares that he is receiving from the other Avengers. "Oh c'mon, I'm not the bad guy! Fury told me this just yesterday, so unless there are phone lines in Greenland or if you wanted me to ruin your night sleep, I decided to tell you when we're all together." Tony casually jabs Steve in the arm. "Like you say Cap, 'teamwork is everything!'"

"I never said anything like that," Steve mutters, spooning more cornflakes into his mouth.

He eyes Clint, who he knew that he wouldn't have such a pleasant reaction to the mention of Loki coming back to Earth. The archer's eyes are boiling with anger when Tony mentions the god of mischief. He twirls an arrow around in his hand like a baton. "Oh believe me, I'll watch that guy like a hawk." Tony snickers at the pun that Clint unintentionally made. Clint glares at him. "And I'll shish kebab him, arrow style, if he so much pulls a funny move on us."

Natasha nonchalantly polishes her precious guns at the table, not expressing much of her thoughts about the situation at hand apart from her partner. "Not unless it's called for Clint, don't let your temper get the best of you." She says coolly. Yet Steve can see an angry, icy cold in her eyes. She casts a calculating glance over to Tony. "How can S.H.I.E.L.D allow a threat like him to live here? Does Thor trust him that recklessly?" Her eyes narrow in disdain thinking of Thor's selfless faith in his maniacal little brother.

Tony shrugs, grabbing a mug of coffee from Bruce's hands and sipping it. He spews back into the cup, shuddering. "_Woah._" He blinks, stunned. "Damn that was strong. Sorry bud." He says to Bruce, patting the scientist's back.

Bruce smiles uncertainly. "...No problem?" He pushes the mug away, clearly not wanting to drink it anymore.

"Welp, it has something to do with Thor's and Loki's freaky planet with their ass-guardian justice or what-not, and that their home is in war. So their king decided to send us a special gift package which included our one and only super-villain. Luckily, he's drained and limited of his powers, so he won't be able to do an 'Avada Kedavra' on us." Tony chuckles at the Harry Potter reference while the others listen, unamused.

Except for Steve, he didn't get the it. "Avada Ke-what?" Steve repeats, scratching his wavy blonde hair.

Tony rolls his eyes. "You seriously need to catch up with the 21st century Capsicle. Anywho, Loki is kinda sorta harmless. Plus, he's wearing an ankle bracelet that keeps track of his every move, and that it limits him to go beyond 100 yards from Stark Tower. If he does, it'll electrify him."

Clint scoffs. "I hope it'll fry him to little Norse bits." He mumbles, stirring around his cup.

"Yep, so that's the sitch. The two Norse wonders are crashing at seven in the evening, so be prepared. Try your best not to shish kebab style the guy." Tony says to Clint. The assassin rolls his eyes in answer, moving on to sharpening the points of his arrows.

Bruce twirls his glasses around nervously. "I'll probably stay out of the guy's way. The Other Guy might get riled up seeing Loki."

"Good call." Steve agrees, slightly guilty.

"Good!" Tony claps his hand, getting up. "Well, I have better things to do kids."

"What's the special occasion?" Natasha asks with a raised eyebrow. "The normal Tony Stark wouldn't dress so nicely for us."

"Pretty observant." Tony laughs it off. "Just have to straighten out some...certain stuff." He pauses for a moment, as if he were about to tell The Avengers something else.

Steve catches this. "Anything else you want to tell us, Stark?"

Tony takes in a sharp breath, as if he were hiding something from the rest. "Actually, yeeeeaaaahhh…" Tony ducks out of sight from The Avengers, going behind the corridor. Steve glances over to the Steve was puzzled to hear him whispering to someone else picking up, 'You sure we want to hang out with these downers?' or, 'They're not experienced in fun unlike I...' And finally Tony comes back into view of his teammates. Steve was even more puzzled to see an uncomfortable and worried expression on the billionaire's face.

"And, we have another houseguest, no member of Stark Tower." His tone is a little softer, including his expression. At this point, Steve was intrigued. Someone else is here too?

"What, does Doctor Doom who wants to come live here too?" Clint snarks, cross.

"Fortunately, nope. Meet Aiyanna." At that moment, a little girl comes out from the doorway. She walks next to Tony, clinging onto his hand. Steve blinks. The Avengers freeze. It was as if all time froze.

The little girl, Aiyanna, gives a shy smile to all of them. "Hi." She whispers, waving a little hand. Steve nearly choked on his mouthful of cereal. He recognizes the girl...

Bruce breaks the ice. "Tony, you want us to babysit her? Who is she anyway, where are her parents?" He says quietly, but his voice incredulous.

Tony shrugs. "I trust ya. Besides, the kid doesn't want to be alone…" He pauses. He walks up to The Avengers, and leans in. "Look," he whispers in a hushed tone. "This kid is the daughter of one of my closest friends. And he's dead. And it's my responsibility to take care of her." His voice took an edge of seriousness that Steve never heard from the insufferable genius before. It made him...found a new respect in him.

Tony regains his composure, going back into his haughty stance. "So you guys _better_ be nice to her." He nudges Aiyanna playfully. "Feel free to tell me if these guys are mean to you. I'll make sure that it'll be dealt with." Aiyanna gives a small laugh. Tony leaves the room, leaving the Avengers in an awkward silence.

Steve did his best to keep his gaze off the little girl. He couldn't look at her. A great sense of shame and failure fills the supersoilder up when he looks at her. "Wonderful way to start off a Monday morning. Like Mondays weren't shitty enough." Clint says under his breath, still not pleased with the news. And though Steve didn't like people using swear words, he couldn't help but privately agree with Hawkeye.

* * *

"Erm, do you want some toast?" Aiyanna hears a soft, deep voice ask her. Colors flash inside her head. Trickling green, shaped like tears and rain. Green rain. Pretty. She smiles at the direction of the green rain voice.

"Yeah please."

"Okay." Green Rain (that's what Aiyanna decided to call the man from this point on until Tony's friends all introduce themselves) pauses. "You can come grab a seat while I get it." A chair scrapes. Footsteps found across the kitchen. Aiyanna nods, obedient. Doing her usual routine of getting round, she clicks her tongue. Nothing in front of her. Just walk a few steps—more clicks of the tongue—oh, the table's close.

"You're using human echolocation." A new voice suddenly says. "That's impressive. I'm trying to learn it myself. It's a useful skill." Mixtures of red colors bounce around Aiyanna's head. The red colors melt away to darkness as the voice talk. The voice sounds like a woman. A very serious woman. Aiyanna decided to call her Miss Scarlet (inspired from her favorite board game and movie, Clue.), and nods excitedly to her general direction.

"Yeah! You're super smart!" Aiyanna says brightly at the woman

"What is she, part bat?" A rough, almost whispery voice comments. Gold and yellow flash behind Aiyanna's eyes. She frowns at the new voice. He sounded 'sarcastic' like her daddy would say when people don't take him seriously. Aiyanna decided to call the rough voice Bright Eyes. "Oof!" She hears Bright Eyes exclaim at the sound of someone hitting him. Aiyanna couldn't help but give a small giggle at the man's demise.

She reaches her hands out to find a chair. She feels big, rough hands catch them gently. Her heart gets caught up in her throat. It feels like her father's hand…

"Here kid, let me help." Familiar colors explode in Aiyanna's head like fireworks. The man's voice was rough, scratchy, and warm. A thick American accent. Blue and red entwined like a twisty straw. Aiyanna heard this voice from somewhere…

"I know you." Aiyanna looks up to where she thinks where Mr. America is. "You were there." She states calmly. Burst of colors violently flash through her head. From that night. That night… "You were there when my daddy died." Aiyanna says in a daze. She feels her shoulders shaking. She can sense that the table of people seized everything they were doing when she said that. Oops. Did she say something wrong? She didn't mean to make anyone uncomfortable.

Her hands reach up for Mr. America's face. He's shivering slightly. Aiyanna got the feeling that he wanted to move away. But she wanted to meet him.

Her hands rub the man's cheek. Stubbly and prickly. Mr. America's gonna grow a beard. She feels his nose. Long and stubby. Skin is smooth and soft. Sweat. Sweat is coming from his forehead. Why? Aiyanna brushes Mr. America's hair. Soft and thick. Wavy. Nice. Almost like her father's.

"Y-Yes...I was there." Mr. America's voice quakes. "I don't know if you know what happened—but I'm sorry that I wasn't fast enough." He says in a quiet voice. Dark blue swirls around in Aiyanna's head. Her hand still cupping his cheek, she can feel sadness from Mr. America.

"Don't be sad Mr. America." Aiyanna says in a comforting voice. "I don't know if you know if I know what happened, but I don't know." Confusion. Mr. America's a little confused now. Better than him being sad.

"Just call me Steve." A smile spreads on Mr. America's face. Aiyanna smiles as well. Almost like her father. She hums happily as she taps the smooth table with her finger. _Tap tap tap tap..._

* * *

_Tap tap tap tap tap._

Loki glares at the door that separates him from Thor. "Bro—Loki." The elder brother manages to correct himself, much to Loki's satisfaction. At least he was learning. Thor's muffled voice says through the door. Loki closes his eyes, rolling over. Maybe if he ignores the oaf, he'd go away. _Tap tap tap tap. _Not a chance,

The annoying tapping of Thor persists, as he raps the door. Loki stares up at the ceiling. So disruptive. But Loki got the feeling that Thor won't stop.

With gritted teeth he manages out a, "What."

"Oh!" Thor's exclaims, sounding like an elated child. "I thought that we should to 'shop' Midguardian clothing for you. Since you cannot go beyond 100 yards beyond the Home of Stark, we might as well make best of the merry time."

Loki shuts his eyes. He hates it when Thor puts the "we" into something. There is no longer a "we," there is only a, "himself." _Let him think what he wants._ Loki thought, not in a mood to quarrel with his thick headed brother. Besides, he actually made a smart point. Loki glanced down at his Asguardian clothes. They were fraying, dirty. Not quite a good attire.

He sighs. "Very well." Loki opens the door. "Let us go on this 'shopping' expedition of yours."

Thor's hairy face widens. "Excellent!" He booms. "Let us go to the Store of 'Gap!' I do not understand why they would name such a place 'Gap' if there is no gap in the floor." Thor's face scrunches up, when he thinks about this. Loki snickers to himself. _The fool is using too much of his head to think this through...but I have to give him a point, what sort of place is called 'Gap?'_

* * *

Steve is reading the newspaper while Aiyanna plays with some action figures on the rug of the living room. As for the others, they are now absent. Bruce had to go to the lab for some "work," Clint said that he had to set up some cameras and traps all over the place in preperation for Loki, and Natasha just slinked away without a word. Steve couldn't help but be angry at them. They couldn't even contribute a bit of their time to make the kid feel better. But then again, as a leader, he had to see it from their perspective. Steve could tell that the three other Avengers are uncomfortable around kids, no, people, in general. Their social skills weren't certainly the _best..._unlike Steve who had to go around America and advertise like some kind of icon. Which he is.

Steve, out of the corner of his eye, watches over Aiyanna closely as she plays with her toys. For her father's death, the little girl didn't seemed troubled about her father's death. _How do kids grieve in the first place?_ Steve pondered in realization. One thing that he did knew, kids often expressed themselves through playing. He knew this from visiting schools and such…

"I'll stop you Mr. Fear!" Aiyanna mutters under her breath, waving a Captain America action figure. Steve was a little glad that she couldn't see that. It's embarrassing enough to have your face plastered all over America. She waves the other figure, which is ironically, Doctor Doom. (Steve didn't get why toy companies thought it would be a good idea to make action figures of supervillains. It's only encouraging them…) "You won't foil my plans this time Daredevil!" Aiyanna says in a raspy voice.

Steve cracks a smile. It was nice seeing a kid actually playing with toys instead of the new fangled 'iphones' that the kids of today play with 24/7.

"Not if I can help it!" The Captain America figure lurches for Doctor Doom. Though, Doctor Doom moves away. "Haha, I wouldn't do that if I were you." Aiyanna changes to a raspy voice for the toy supervillain. Her hand reaches out to an Iron Man and a kid toy figure. "It's either the father or kid. Choose one and I'll kill them." Aiyanna's voice gets harsher and rougher as she talks. Her expression turns angry.

Steve watches, alarmed.

"No, impossible! I can save both of them!" The Captain America figure cries out. "There's always a way!"

"There's only one way." Aiyanna says through the Doctor Doom figure. "But if you won't make a choice, I will!" Aiyanna makes a stabbing motion with the Doctor Doom figure into the Iron Man figure. Steve stares, speechless.

Aiyanna makes a crying sound with the little kid figure. "Why? Why Mr. Fear? What did my daddy ever do to you? What did he do?" She pauses. Her hands are tightly clenched around Doctor Doom. "What did he do?" She whispers to it, as if it were a real person. Steve looks down at the paper, silent.

* * *

"What did he do?!" Thor bellows, enraged. "What did he do to you for this poor man to get a beating from you Loki?!" Thor questions, staring horrified at the fallen Pop Tart mascot. The man in the stuffy pink food costume is sprawled out on the ground, groaning in pain, clutching his stomach. Surrounding him are fallen coupons of Pop Tarts. Loki looks on, unphased and bored.

"What? The fool tried to _hug_ me."

He noticed out the corner of his eye that a crowd was forming. Thanks to Thor's melodramatic performance. Like mortals would say, 'truly worthy of an Oscar.'

"Friend Poptart Man! Speak to me!" Thor begs the man in the Poptart costume.

The man stumbles up, disheveled. "He's a psycho!" He yells, his chubby white gloved finger pointing at Loki. "And I don't get paid enough for this!" With that, the angry Poptart Man stomps away, still clutching his stomach.

"Oh dear, he is still alive." Loki rolls his eyes at his brother's charades. Thor's face brightens up.

"I am glad!" He thunders.

"OMG, is that who I _think_ it is?" A voice squeals from the surrounding crowd.

"Yeah I think it is."

"An Avenger?!"

"He's Thor, the hammer guy!"

"GO THOR!"

"Jam that hammer!"

Loki glares at the crowd. These sniveling mortals bow so easily to Thor's whim without him even trying. By the Allfather, he hated it. Thor waves at the crowd. "G'day, citizens of Times Square! I wish you many merriments and goodwill." He bows, kissing a nearby woman's hand. Loki wished he had a Midguardian device called a, 'camera.' He could've taken an image and somehow send it to Lady Jane.

The Midguardian mortal blushes furiously. "Sooo dreamy!"

"THOR, GIVE ME A KISS!"

"SIGN MY SHIRT!"

"MARRY ME?!"

This noticeably came from women. The last line, disturbingly to Loki, came from a man. Thor is cornered, as the crowd tightens around him. People took out their devices, bright lights flashing from them. "Please, please, citziens…" Thor is starting to sound a little uneasy as some girls tried clawing at his clothes.

Loki seized the chance, worming his way through the sea of mortals. He promised himself that he was going to sneak into a Shakespeare broadway show that is like theatre in the Midguardian world and explore wonderous places that are like libraries where you can actually possess the books, before he gets caught by either SHIELD or Thor once again by the end of the day.

* * *

**A/N: Yeaaaaahhhhh, Loki didn't meet Aiyanna yet. XD I'M SORREH PEOPLE. At least there was kinda sorta Family!Avengers. ...Very awkward Family!Avengers. Hey, they're getting there. Maybe next chapter…? Reviews please!**


	6. To Be Alone

Padadarling: Omg I love this story! Aiyanna is the best! Please update soon!

**Thank you! X) I'll try my best to update every night!**

Moonstruck625:So much love! I'm really glad that you made this story. It has been one of the better ones I have found! Aiyanna is soo cute and I can't wait to see how Loki will react to her! Please update soon! :)

**Thanks so much! Yeah, I always wanted to read a fic where Loki makes friends with a little kid - but no one seemed to step up to the plate. So I did. X) Don't worry child, we're getting close to their anticipated encounter…**

iamgoku:Ooohhhh poor Aiyanna , the toy scene made me sad

But Thor's scene was hilarious GO THOR !

But loki sucks for punching the mascot HE INLY WANTED TO HUG ! And sell pop tarts which is an added bonus

I'd love to see Aiyana's have some one on one time with Bruce though

**Yeah, the toy scene couldn't help but made me feel downspirited as well. It made me feel bad on the inside...Gotta love Poptart Man. ;D Why are there no mascots like that in Times Square? Don't worry, Aiyanna will soon enough have interactions with all of the Avengers and Loki. Soooooonnn…**

.9: I loved the last scene at the shopping! I think that is what would happen if they existed! I hope Loki meet Aiyanna in the next chapter :D

**Yep, everybody loves Thor's love for Poptarts. X) Don't worry, Loki might meet Aiyanna in this chapter… (I don't really plan out my chapters so… XD) Also, sorry how your username appears in chapters. For some reason Fanfiction is leaving your name to appear as, '.9' so it's kinda weird. :s**

Echoflame of Fireclan:next chapter? please please please please please?

I NEED LOKI FLUFF

i'll survive on the other 99 loki fluff fics i'm following right now. :'( OR WILL I?

No, but seriously. I love Miss Scarlet, that's adorable, and little Aiyanna with her action figures IT'S SO SAD.

Quick question-have you ever read Pseudonymous Bosch's Secret Series? (random, but synesthesia, sooo)

**I know, everybody hungers for Loki/Aiyanna interaction. Wow, must be quite the schedule trying to read about 100 fics. XD Don't worry, there's more sad Aiyanna scenes where that came from...I'm just evil like dat. :D Yepyep, I read the Secret Series and LOVED IT! The author is so funny! That's what inspired me to give Aiyanna synesthesia.**

* * *

**"One of the most difficult things to think about in life is one's regrets. **

**Something will happen to you, and you will do the wrong thing, **

**and for years afterward you will wish you had done something different."  
_― Lemony Snicket, Horseradish_**

* * *

**~Chapter Six~**

Loki never thought that Midgard would be so _cultural_ and fascinating. The humans really had more than what meets the eye. He is now residing in a tight jail cell (courtesy of S.H.I.E.L.D) after they caught him wandering the city. Loki had to admit, it was his most pleasant day he ever experienced. Or he ever will have.

After abandoning Thor to his adoring fans, Loki decided to sneak into a Broadway Theatre. One show caught his eye. It was called, 'Wicked.' Sneaking into the theatre was quite easy for Loki, he easily convinced the guards (he wasn't called 'Silvertongue' for nothing) and got inside. The show was already half through - but by the Allfather, Loki found it amazing.

The whole play itself, he could horrifyingly relate too. Particularly with the main character, Elphaba she is called, is a witch outcasted because of green skin and ability to use magic. Loki thought of himself. Outcasted and looked upon by Asguardians for his petty strength and quiet nature. All he had in his life was as friends was Thor, Sif, and the Three Warriors. But Loki always go the feeling that the Three Warriors and Sif tolerated his presence rather than appreciate it because of Thor. The only real friend he ever had was…

When Loki entered the theatre, Elphaba was singing 'No Good Deed.' He related quite deeply to the lyrics. He can recall them right now, as he is sitting in the silence of his cell.

'_**No good deed goes unpunished**_

_**No act of charity goes unresented**_

_**No good deed goes unpunished**_

_**That's my new creed...'**_

Loki closes his eyes remembering his time back at the Chitauri realm, when he made his final decision…

* * *

_Loki is staring at the staff that The Other has given to him in his hands. He had came to a final conclusion. It's either him or the Midguardians. The Other threatened from the words of Thanos that the Chitauri themselves will force Asgard including many other realms into war. How to stop this? Well, by conquering Midgard first, Loki figured. They are the easiest realm to probably take out. _

_Also there _is _a reason why Midgard is called for what it is. It is the 'Middle Realm.' A space between realms. Taking control of it would give Loki the higher edge of space-faring races out there…_

_He felt his hands tighten around the new staff. He will prove to his father and to everyone else to the Nine Realms that he is worthy to rule and be feared of. If he usurps Midgard, why stop there? He can take over the next realm, and the next until he unites all of them - no more war will happen if all realms are controlled by one ruler. Him._

_Loki's heart hardens with resolve. No matter the cost. He will make his name known. He will prove it to everyone. He will save everyone. He is the hero of the story now._

* * *

'_**My road of good intentions**_

_**Led where such roads always lead**_

_**No good deed**_

_**Goes unpunished!'**_

Loki reminisced to himself - when he let the Frost Giants in Asgard on the day of Thor's coronation, it was a test. He truly and honestly thought that his brother wasn't ready. Back then Thor was obnoxious. Unpredictable. He never wanted the throne of Asgard. He just wanted someone worthy of it. And Thor wasn't ready. All Loki wanted to prove was that Thor wasn't ready. But it all went out of hand, like a domino effect…

If Thor hadn't invited him to come along to attack Jotunheim, Loki would've never gotten his first clue that he was a Frost Giant.

If Odin hadn't taken so long to arrive at Jotunheim, Thor probably wouldn't had attacked the Frost Giants so soon.

If Thor hadn't put Asgard on the brink of war by attacking Jotunheim, he wouldn't had been banished.

If Loki had never confronted his father about his true origins, he wouldn't had put his father into OdinSleep...

There were so many 'ifs' and 'what could have happens' and 'what should've happens' that Loki was too tired to actually keep track of them. It all started off with a true, good motivation that Loki tried to perform for the good of Asgard. Then it rolled up into a huge ball of disaster as each event happened after the next.

It all led up to him falling off the Bifrost. To his final conclusion that if he were to save everyone, he must rule everyone.

He genuinely thought that he was granting Midgard a favor. Mercy. Why not save humanity by enslaving it? That was his thought process. True, many lives will be loss in the process, but everyone will bow and thank him in the end. But look how that turned out...four realms are out for his blood, Thanos and the Chitauri are searching for him, disowned by Odin...yes, yes. All of his justified deed (Loki wouldn't exactly call them good…), did not go unpunished.

He thought of all of those whom he had lost through the process.

Frigga. (His mother must be so disappointed in him)

Odin. (He couldn't even call Loki by 'Odinson' anymore…)

His people's trust. (When they now talk of him they will not laugh about the pranks he made but the atrocities that he committed)

Thor… (The superior, the reason behind it all, his motivation…)

'_**One question haunts and hurts**_

_**Too much, too much to mention:**_

_**Was I really seeking good**_

_**Or just seeking attention?'**_

These lyrics hit him. What did Loki really want? What was his purpose? It all revolves and goes back to Odin. Did he really want to take over the Nine Realms for peace? Or was it just a cry out to Odin that he was worthy of it all?

'_**I promise no good deed**_

_**Will I attempt to do again**_

_**Ever again**_

_**No good deed**_

_**Will I do again!'**_

Loki balls up his hands into fists. Yes. This is final choice. He will no longer think or consider others, no. He will only think of himself. For everything justified deed he tries to perform, is disapproved by what seems the whole universe. Just him against the world.

He sighs, looking down at the book version of, 'Wicked' in his hands that he aquired from a book place called, 'Barnes And Nobles.'

He will be alone.

* * *

"Mr. Stark, are you sure you are responsible enough to take care of a child?" The social service lady, Ms. Cranston, asks the CEO with a raised eyebrow. He forces a confident smile.

"Since when I am not responsible?"

"Hmm let's see." Ms Cranston taps her pen on her clipboard. "You have a history of drinking problems, you waste your time away out clubs, you fight against terrorists for a living, and you run a company."

Tony's confident smile disappears. He looks somberly at Ms. Cranston's stern eyes. "I've changed."

"Hm." Ms. Cranston sighs, taking off her glasses. "I see. But from what others can see, Mr. Stark, is a dysfunctional family waiting to happen. How can this child live with the media always on her tail? Dangerous enemies of yours always around the corner threatening the safety of your child? A child cannot take in that much drama in her life. How do you plan on giving this little girl the childhood she deserves?"

These questions hit Tony like a punch from the Hulk. He felt his bravado waver. All of this...never occurred to him. The way that Ms. Cranston to put it - it seems that he doesn't have the ability to take care of a kid. He sputters out, "I'll manage. I'm Iron Man!" He says the last part with a joking smile.

Ms. Cranston does not smile back. "Most of all, Iron Man. What if it were to happen if a mission of yours goes wrong? If you don't make it through the job?" Tony's stomach flops. Another good point… "You will once again leave the child fatherless. This is a serious matter that we're going over."

Tony stares at his black shiny loafers. Damn. What comeback can he make? The billionaire felt that he couldn't bring himself to think about the unpredictable future. He is a man of living now. Not tomorrow. Now. He finally says, "Well, is there anyone else for the job? Family members?"

The social service lady nods, pulling out a file. "Yes. Aiyanna has a mother who is still alive, along with a son." Tony felt his throat tighten. For some reason, he didn't want to let go of Aiyanna. "But…" Ms. Cranston raises an eyebrow. "This woman does not want any responsibilty of her daughter. Oh." Ms. Cranston reads what's inside the file with wide, surprised eyes. Tony frowns at her reaction.

"What is it…?"

Ms. Cranston leans back, rubbing her glasses. "Read it for yourself, Mr. Stark."

Tony looks back in forth between her and the folder, hesitant. He takes it, and looks inside. As he reads, his stomach flops around even more. _I never thought that Jacob as the type to be disloyal…_ He thought, and wordlessly hands back the folder. "I see. The mother doesn't want any association with Aiyanna…" Tony says, his hands folded against each other.

"Yes." Ms. Cranston nods. "Anyway, I suppose there are no legible family members. Besides, according to the will of Jacob Williams, it seems he wanted you to have parentship of Aiyanna. I can't argue with that. But, just know that Social Services always has the power to place the girl in another enivronment if you are incapable of raising her." Ms. Cranston's sturdy gaze bores into Tony's.

"Tell me, Mr. Stark, are there any residents at your place that serve as a danger to Aiyanna?"

_Let's see, well, there's two master assassins hanging at my place, a guy with major anger issues, an old guy that is way out of time, a god that is too medieval, and his psycho brother that murdered Aiyanna's father in the first place…_ Tony smiles. "Nope. Just some very unique friends."

The look on the lady's face shows that she doesn't fully believe in the CEO. "Very well. You may have custody of Aiyanna Grace Williams." Tony gives out a fist pump, as Ms. Cranston stamps the file with an approval mark. "Don't disappoint me Mr. Stark."

"I won't!" He says, making his way for the door.

"By the way," Ms Cranston calls out before he goes out. "Social services will be sent to Stark Tower in a couple of weeks to check the environment, so be prepared."

"No problem!" Tony yells over his shoulder. He's ready for this.

* * *

Steve glances nervously at the clock. 6:47. Darn, time flew by so fast for him today...most of the day he kept watch over Aiyanna. He noticed quite strange things about the girl, as he looks over the notes he took about her. After playing with the toy figures, Aiyanna got tired of them. For the rest of the time, she only played with play-doh. She only ate things like toffee, hot chocolate, or chicken nuggets. She refused to eat anything else.

Aiyanna would also ask Steve questions. Questions that would make him extremely uncomfortable and hesitant. Such as:

'Steve, when will I die?'

'Will you die too?'

'Why do you think my dad was killed?'

'Where is he now?'

Then she'd repeat the questions all over like a cycle. Steve tried to make the questions as brief and discreet as possible. Such as:

'You won't die - I mean you will - it's just that you're so young - you won't die in a long time Aiyanna.'

'Yes, I everyone has to pass eventually.'

'I don't know.'

'Your dad is probably somewhere else.'

But to Steve's trouble, it only led to more questions that he couldn't find himself to answer. Aiyanna also never, ever wanted to be alone. She followed Steve around wherever he went. Not that he minded, it was just part of his observation. It just made Steve feel even more guilty every passing minute that he is around the little girl. It kept on taking him back to that night...his mistake...his failure…

* * *

_Steve runs towards the crowd of Germans, that are kneeling down to the man that stole the Tesseract, Loki. He is talking to the crowd, a confident air about him. Steve gritted his teeth. The scene was all too familiar from him, 70 years ago…_

_He sees from a far distance, that three people are standing up. An old man, a father, and daughter. Steve resolved to run faster. Loki looked on the verge of attacking the defiant people._

_Just as Steve was one foot away from the crowd, Loki used his staff to attack one of the standing people. The old man. "NO!" Steve calls out, desperation sparking through him. Though, the old man is saved. Not by him. The father. The father jumped in front of the old man. He is lying on the ground, probably dead for all Steve knows. _

_The daughter, a little girl is calling out for her father. Loki is looking at her with slight amusement and interest on his face. Steve swings his shield towards the horned villain with all of his might. He won't let another life get stolen. Loki's attention snaps off the girl, when the shield knocks him off his feet._

_Steve rushes forward to throw a punch. The kneeling people seperate, taking their chance to run. The fatherless little girl lingers in the back of Steve's mind as he fights head on with Loki. After that, when Steve and the other Avengers captivate him inside the Helicarrier, he thought back on the little girl. He couldn't help but wonder what happened to her…_

* * *

Steve closes his eyes. Where plenty of other peoples thought that Captain America was perfect, he was not. Did they have any idea how many sacrifices and lives he was not able to save? The choices he had to make? Probably not.

"Hey Steve," Aiyanna calls out, snapping Steve out of his thoughts.

"Yeah?" He replies. They are both walking towards Bruce's working room. Steve hoped to find some answers from the doctor about Aiyanna's mental grieving state. "What did my daddy's killer look like?" Steve stops in his tracks. He looks down at Aiyanna. She looked so earnest, curious, and innocent like. Her blind eyes search. Search for answers.

"...He looks quite tall. Thin. Dressed in green." Steve describes vaguely. He wondered how this will make any use to Aiyanna. "Aiyanna, please don't mind me asking, but how long were you blind."

"Oh. Ever since I was a baby." She answers, acting as if it were no big deal. "I was always sick when I was little. My daddy took care of me. He taught me how to see with my blindness. He was always so smart like that."

Steve felt as if he were being jabbed in the heart everytime the little girl mentions her father. It was a reminder for him. "Alright...don't mind me asking again, but why would you want to know what your father's killer looks like?"

Aiyanna is silent for a moment. "I just want to know what he looked like to you. Not what he looked like on the outside...but what you thought of him when you saw him." She explains.

Steve considers his answer. "I thought that he looked like a lost man. A lost man craving a purpose. And a man that's crazy enough to search for those he wants to control. But one thing for sure, his eyes are lost. Unsure. Wild. I don't think he really knew what he was doing was wrong…"

"What were the color of his eyes?"

"Pale creepy blue." Steve shudders remembering Loki's wild eyes. "Kinda unnatural if you ask me."

"Oh." Aiyanna's face scrunches up, trying to imagine Steve's description. "He looks evil." She comments.

Steve doesn't say anything to this. They finally reach Bruce's working place. "Alright, this is where Bruce hangs out." he tells the girl.

She smiles. "You mean Green Rain?"

"Er, yes. Be careful not to touch too much things when you're in there."

"I won't."

"Good." Steve then enters the room. He finds Bruce at a desk, reading over a bunch of papers with deep concentration on his face. Steve clears his throat, the scientist noticing the company.

"Hey Steve. Aiyanna." He nods towards the girl. She smiles, and wanders off, exploring the room. Steve walks next to Bruce. "Watcha need?" Bruce asks, stacking the papers up. Steve sees a picture of a dark haired woman. Bruce's old girlfriend, Betty. The supersoilder pretends to not notice it.

"I need to ask you something Banner...do you know how kids grieve?" He asks. Steve couldn't help but feel strange when these words slip out of his mouth. It wasn't everyday that you would ask someone this. Bruce pauses, glancing up. His eyes trail over to Aiyanna.

"I'm a scientist Steve, not a psychologist." Banner takes off his glasses. "But I do know a thing or too about grief. There are five stages of grief. Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Though people don't always follow the five stages, or the stages can be out of order for each individual. How long a person grieves can vary. That can't be predicted." Bruce stares off at Aiyanna. "Tell me Rogers, how is she faring?"

Steve is glad to pour it out. The action figures, questions, weird obsessions that Aiyanna seemed to be fixated with. It was good to tell someone. Bruce listens to the whole thing with a thoughtful expression. When Steve finishes he states, I see. Bruce rubs his brow. "It's not uncommon for children to ask questions. Steve, you're going to have to be honest. Don't use euphenisms or metaphors. You're only making the kid more confused."

The Cap bites his bottom lip. "It's not even up to me for the matter. I'm not comfortable telling a kid this kind of stuff…"

Bruce shrugs, his face grim. "You'll have to tell. We have to tell. Guess this is the stuff we'll have to face."

"I'm glad that you put the 'we' into it." Steve smiles in gladness. He glances at the clock. "Good golly, it's 6:56 already...think we should get ready?"

"Yeah." Bruce gets up from his chair. "Let's welcome our new guest."

* * *

Tony's foot taps with aniticipation as the elevator brings him to the Avengers' floors. He arrives, and is glad to see that the other Avengers assembled in the living room. Aiyanna is off to the side eating chicken nuggets, oblivious to the tension in the air. "Sup everyone! Sup kiddo!" Tony greets everyone. He goes over to Aiyanna, ruffling her head.

"You're back alive! I'm so glad!" Aiyanna smiles. Tony cringes at her statement. The kid seemed to have a raw fear of being alone and people going out of her sight…

"Hey kiddo. I want you to go back below to our floors. And stay there. Don't come to the Avengers' floors." He says in a serious tone to her.

Aiyanna is looking past him, puzzled. "Why? I want to see the house guest too!"

Tony glances over to the Avengers, who are looking elsewhere. _Way to keep a secret._ He thought. "Well...we just need to arrange some things with him. Besides, he doesn't like hanging around kids that much." Tony pauses. "C'mon. Get on. It's bedtime anyway."

Aiyanna stares down at her plate. "But I want to stay up here with people…"

"Sir, S.H.I.E.L.D agents have arrived with Thor." JARVIS announces.

Tony glances back to Aiyanna. "Please kid." He begs. "Be strong." He pushes Aiyanna softly away.

With a forlorn glance, Aiyanna shuffles away down the hallway. The Avengers shift, uncomfortable. Tony looks back at them. "Let's greet Reindeer Games, shall we?"

* * *

**A/N: I am so sorry. Looks like Aiyanna and Loki won't meet yet. NEXT CHAPTER I PROMISE. Hahaha...reviews please if you're not angry? *dives behind a metal fort***


	7. To Be Encountered

Moonstruck625: Not mad, just a little sad. Aiyanna is so cute but she is so sad. I liked the Loki parts when he talked about the Wicked show very nice. *applauds* please keep updating! :)

**Yay! Glad to see that you didn't Hulk out on me. XD I saw Wicked a couple of months ago and it was A-MAZING. Then when I saw Thor and The Avengers, I immediately compared Loki to Elphaba. Honestly, the two have a lot in common. (Somebody should make a crossover...I'll read it!)**

caramelkitkat:NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I really wanted it to be this chapter D; D; D;

**I'M SORREH. DX I guarantee that they're meeting in this chapter. I GUARANTEE IT!**

Snarky-Teen:*sets up own fort and magically conjurs a ton of snowballs* You (*throws a snowball with each word*) better update soon!

**OH GAWD! *pulls out metal umbrella while being pelted by snowballs* STAPH! XD I uppppddaaattteeed… *le sobs* ;_;**

TheOneandOnlyGodessofAwesome: Poor Aiyanna… I just… :'(

***hands you a tissue* Don't worry….there's more where that came from.**

fan-de-carlisle-cullen: I hope Loki and Ayianna will share a cathartic scene at some point. Like Maleficent and Aurora. :)

**Soon enough, soon enough they will have an emotional moment. You watched Maleficent as well? That movie was so awesome, I loved it! **

.9:Well, not this time, right? Can't wait for the next chapter! 3 (And do not break your promise, ok? Hahahahah)

**Don't worry, I'm not going to break it...cuz you people might appear at my doorstep with pitchforks. XD **

Echoflame of A Fireclan:I swear you're doing this on purpose.

First you melt my heart with Aiyannadorable and THEN

okay

be a nice reader, echo

i swear

i will

I NEED IT THOUGH

i can hang on, especially with your posting speed o_O

'**Aiyannadorable?' Okay, I'm making that official. Wonderful name! XD I'm sorry person...just be strong bro. Maybe I am torturing you readers on purpose… *evil grin***

Captain River Stark: Loved the Wicked part! It's one of my favorite musicals. I love how you found a parallel between Elphaba and Loki. And I'm so glad that you update often.

**Mine too! I would KILL to see that musical again...erm no pun intended.**

* * *

**"If it is necessary sometimes to lie to others, it is always despicable to lie to oneself."  
_― W. Somerset Maugham, The Painted Veil_**

* * *

**~Chapter Seven~**

Loki felt somewhat fascinated when riding up the strange mortal contraption called an, 'elevator. It was almost like a teleportation device, only you get encased in a small metal box that travels through buildings. The god couldn't help but dread the moment the doors open to meet the Avengers. To be snickered and jeered upon, Loki cannot stand. Usually Loki does all of the snickering and jeering…

_Ding!_ Goes the elevator doors.

"Truly wonderous." Thor comments to three other agents accompanying them, as the doors open. Loki rolls his eyes to himself. The lumbering fool is impressed by easily anything from Midgard. He was already sick of Thor's rants about the greatness of the 'almighty tasty Poptarts.' Frankly, Loki found them disgustingly sweet and tasting of gritty overbaked bread. But of course, he could never say that to the god of thunder's face...One of the woman agents - 'Lady Maria' is what Thor calls her, a familiar face to Loki when he broke into SHIELD's base, smiles at Thor in amusement.

"I'm glad that you like Earth's simple technology devices so far, Thor." She says, as all of them walk out of the elevator.

Loki gives out a silent sigh. There were the Avengers, all of them gathered in the living room waiting for him. _Flattering._ He thought flatly, avoiding the murderous gazes of Hawkeye and The Black Widow, as well as the man who contains, 'The Hulk.' Perfect, just bloody perfect.

"Well if it isn't Reindeer Games." The infuriating, Tony Stark says breaking the tense silence in the air. Loki glares at the insolent mortal. After all of this time, Loki still has no idea what 'Reindeer Games' meant...but he was sure it was meant to be quite derogatory to his name. Without missing a beat, Loki gives an exagerrated cocky bow. Immediately, this set the surrounding SHIELD agents off, all of them whipping out and pointing their guns at the god.

Loki flinches, raises his hands. "By the norns!"

Thor reacts, seeing Loki threatened. "Put down your weapons!" He thunders, smacking a gun out of one of the agents' hands. Outside, thunder suddenly crackles followed by lightning. The Avengers go into their battle stances.

"Thunder Man, calm the fuck down!" Tony shouts. Though his shouting goes unnoticed, Thor still glaring threateningly at the cowering agent.

One of the other agents takes out a taser. "Sir, I ask you to PLEASE calm down!" He says, a nervous cautious edge to his voice.

Thor glares at the man, his hammer clenched in his hand. "You DARE defy the Son of Odin?!"

"Erm, I'm not 'daring' anything! What, are you batshit crazy?!" The agent replies, confused.

Thor's nostrils flare. "Do not address me that way Son of…" He peers at the name tag on the agent's suit. "Son of Jackson!" He bellows. Loki can only watch from the side, trying to hold back his laughter. Sometimes, he thinks that his oaf of a brother should try to be an actor…

"Hey Maria, are you sure that this Loki guy is the danger?" Agent Jackson scoffs. "Cuz this Odinson nut job here probably is the one who should get locked up." Loki chokes back even more laughter. This man was truly an imbecile for saying such things in front of Thor himself...he will truly pay the price.

"FOOL!" Thor screeches, Agent Jackson flinching. "Do you know who I AM?! Haughty mortal, I'm the one who defended your world so show your good graces!"

"Yeaaahh Shakespeare…what are you going to do, use that oversized sledgehammer?"

This pushed Thor's last button. "Feel my wrath Son of Jackson!" He declares, and slams Mjolnir onto a nearby couch. He charges at Agent Jackson, whose taser flies out of his hand as he crashes on the floor. Tony gives out a short (manly) scream, seeing his destroyed furniture. The other agent that had his gun knocked out of his hand stumbles up, and snatches the fallen taser from the floor. He aims for Thor, but Steve dives in and pushes the agent.

This ends up having the taser hit Bruce, electrifying him. Green veins pop out on his forehead. "OH SHIT!" Clint yells, before Bruce's size balloons into the towering Hulk. Loki jumps, diving behind the kitchen counter for cover. One thing for sure, he did _not_ want to see the green beast again. He hears a roar come out of the Hulk, as the other Avengers clamber around trying to assest the situation.

When Loki tried to peer over the counter, a coffee table comes flying over his head. He stares agape at the broken table smashed in bits in front of him, and he hears the wails of Tony over the loss of another one of his furniture. _I might as well wander around while they're distracted. _Loki thought, wanting to at least defy his captivators while given chance. He conjures up a clone (though it wasn't usually as solid when he had his full power) and Loki took the chance to sneak off from the chaotic scene.

* * *

_BOOM! CRASH!_

Blinding colors flash behind Aiyanna's eyes. Sickly electric yellow. Neon blue. They made Aiyanna's head hurt when she hears the sounds of thunder.

She whimpers, crawling into the corner of the room. _Pit patter pit patter pit patter…_ The rain drums on the window. The wind howls outside violently. More thunder and lightning. Aiyanna hugs her knees, plugging her ears. She wants the sounds tos top. They made her so scared. As she is rocking herself back and forth, Aiyanna tries to comfort herself with the memory of daddy.

_When there's thunderstorms, Daddy would always tell me stories and legends about the weather and legendary spirits. It always made me feel better. _Aiyanna's heart aches for the comfort of her daddy. _Sometimes, will he ever come home? Usually he always comes home when it's late at night…_ Though in the back of her head, a voice whispers the horrible truth that her Daddy will never come back…

Aiyanna jumps hearing another thunderous boom from the outside. She shuts her eyes. "_Morgen früh, wenn Gott will, Wirst du wieder geweckt…"_ She sings softly to herself, rocking herself back and forth even more. She remembers that sometimes that she would sit on her father's lap in their winter home at Switzerland near the fire, singing her old German lullabies. He didn't have the best singing voice, but it was comforting to Aiyanna nevertheless.

As she sings softly to herself, her voice barely above a whisper, Aiyanna tries to recall what colors appear in her head when her father sings to her a lullaby. Pale green, dark green, aqua, luke red… The colors repeat in her head, as she tries to comfort herself. However, she snaps out of her thoughts when she hears footsteps echo down the hallway next to her. Aiyanna scrambles to her feet. Could Tony or his friends be back? Maybe Pepper's back from her work?

Excited, Aiyanna goes towards the person walking down the hallway. "Tony? Are you here?" She calls out. She clicks her tongue. The person a couple of feet away. They stop in their tracks. Aiyanna walks closer to the person, and reaches her hands out to find their hands. She traces her hand down the person's arm. Tough. Leathery. The person's wearing leather clothes? It's not Steve, Tony, or Pepper.

The person puts their hand on hers. Their hand is cool. It's nice. Long, spindly fingers from what Aiyanna can tell. "Child, what are you _doing?_" The person, a man asks. The lightest shade of green washes over her. The light pale green is almost like a mint. Cool. Like snow. Not cold, but cool. The man's voice is nice. Aiyanna cocks her head. A faint, distant English or British accent. She felt her face spread into a smile. She likes the sound of British accents. She couldn't help but feel as if she heard the voice before…

"I'm trying to find your face silly. It's not like I can see you." She tells the person, giggling. Her hand reaches to where she thinks the man's face is. Though his hand catches hers once again.

"Wait...I recognize you…"

"Hm?" Aiyanna asks, puzzled. "Well I never heard your voice before. I'm Aiyanna and I'm blind." She tells the stranger. "What's your name?"

The stranger pauses. Aiyanna can feel hesitation from him. Finally, he answers, "Logan."

* * *

Loki was a little shocked when the small mortal child's little hands start touching him. He was not used to people making contact with him except Frigga or Thor. He frowns down in disapproval at the little Midguardian, stopping her hands from making contact with his face. _Strange girl._ He comments to himself.

But as he looks at the mortal child's face more, it hits him. He _recognizes _her. He remembers from that night…

* * *

_Loki smirks at the chaos around him. The Midguardians were so easily frightened. They ran off immediately in all directions in panic after he stuck the strange device into the man's eye. He calmly walks outside in the midst of the panic of the mortals, looking out to the scurrying mortals. Loki couldn't help but feel a smug satisfaction in himself. This is how they should act like. Wild, unruly creatures. _

_As he is walking, he willed for his appearance to change into his Asguardian attire. Much better. He raises his staff, knocking a car over. It skids to its destruction past him, as he walks towards the square of frightened mortals. He commands projections of himself to all four corners of the huge square, trapping the mortals. "Kneel before me," He announces to them. They scream, terrified. Loki frowns, rubbing his ears. These mortals' screams are starting to tire him. His patience is running thin. It's either they get used to it, or else._

"_I said...KNEEL!" Loki bellows, not wanting to repeat himself twice. Like obedient children, the Midguardians slowly bend down to their knees. He smiles, satisfied. He glances around smugly at their wide, frightened eyes. It felt so _damn _good to feel above someone else. To feel powerful. To feel _superior.

_Loki starts strolling into the crowd of humans. He spreads his arms out, a proud smile on his face. Oh, this will be simple. "Is this, not simpler?" He asks the crowd of mortals. Yes, yes, mortals truly need a ruler. "Is this not - your natural state? It's the unspoken truth of humanity - that you _crave _someone to rule you." He gloats to them. "You were made," He glances around his potential new citizens. "To be ruled."_

_He chuckles to himself. "In the end you will always kneel." The mortals around him stare at the ground. They must feel truly inferior. Lower. Weak. Like what he felt all of his life. _

_Just as Loki was basking in the moment of his newfound glory, an old crumpled looking mortal starts getting up. And to his fury, another man with blonde wavy hair stands up, along with a black haired little girl. Loki's blood immediately boil over. _What is this? _These three insolent mortals _dare _defy him?! The old mortal looks Loki in the eye_ - _he dares to look _him _in the eye?! He utters, "Not to men like _you."

_Loki smirks in answer. This imbecile has no idea what he speaks of. "There are _no _men like me." How dare this mortal tells him off? This nobody? Telling him that there are others like him...no, HE is special! He's basically being told by a mortal of a nobody that others before him had attempted this...and failed. Horrifyingly enough, the Midguardian's words managed to worm their way into Loki's self esteem…_

"_With all due respect sir," The blonde haired mortal says to Loki with an infuriating confidence. "There are - and always will be men like you. Men scrambling to find their place in society and to fill their lust for power. These men like you are lost. Guideless. Purposeless." _

_Loki glares at the Midguardian. How dare HE?! He cocks his head. "Is that so? Hehe." Loki twirls his staff around in his hand menacingly. "Follow these foolish people's example. Follow them - and this happens." Loki raises his staff to kill first, the defiant old man. Before he is blasted, Loki relished the raw fear in the old man's eyes. _

_BROOOWM!_

_The energy from Loki's staff made impact. Screams echo from the mortals. That'll teach that old fool. When Loki turns to the blonde mortal to finish him off as well, he is surprised to see only the little girl standing alone. Her eyes are wide with alarm. "Daddy?" She calls out, her hands grasping the air. "Daddy?" Loki then sees the dead, smoking body of the blonde Midguardian. The old man stares down at the dead body, clearly shocked and horrfied._

_He regains his composure. "How chivarlous." He glances back at the little girl. She didn't seem aware that her father is dead. How pitiful. Loki smiles at the little girl, and was about to say something to her, when he is thrown off his feet. He skids across the floor, as the mortals scramble away for their lives._

_When the trickster tries going on his feet, the assaulter punches his jaw. The little girl vanishes from Loki's mind. There is a fight to be settled._

* * *

Loki stares down at the black haired girl, stunned. A survivor. He wondered to himself. The girl said that she was blind. She probably didn't know what he looked liked.

The little girl tugs his hand. "Can you stay here with me Logan?" She whispers pleadingly. "I-I don't like being alone…"

He resisted the wide eyed stare that the child was giving him. He will resist. Trying to tug his arm away he mutters to her, "Go away child. I don't like children…"

Aiyanna is clamped to his arm like a bear trap. "I'm scared of the thunderstorm."

Loki pauses now. The way the little girl said it - he couldn't help but relate to it. He had his own genuine fear of thunder storms when he was little himself. He sighs and relents. "Fine." He says to her. Aiyanna's face blooms into a smile at Loki.

"Yay!" She says, leading him into the living room. On their way there, she clicks her tongue quite frequently, much to Loki's interest.

"Is that how you get around?" He asks.

"Yeah. It's called echolocation. My daddy taught me it." Loki didn't know how to react to the statement about the girl's now dead father. What did he feel? "Let's play with Play-Doh." She says to Loki, she says raising some jars. 'Which color do you want?"

"Green I suppose." Loki says, taking the green 'Play-Doh.' He unclasps the top, finding some clay like substance. Aiyanna smiles, taking hers, which is a red Play-Doh.

"That's funny that you like green," She tells him. "When you talk, I can see light pale green snow. It's almost white, but there's still a green tint to it."

Loki's frowns at the girl's odd statement. "Whatever do you mean, little girl?"

Aiyanna starts molding the Play-Doh. "Oh, well, I have this thing called sinny-thesia. Even though I'm blind, everytime I hear sounds, I can see colors. So I guess I'm not completely blind. It's really cool."

Loki follows Aiyanna's lead, aimlessly molding the clay as well. "I see." He says, not quite following. He should probably research on it…

"Having sinny-thesia is really useful too. I can play piano really good!"

The god of mischief raises an eyebrow. "What is this 'piano' you speak of?" He questions, rolling the clay into a ball. Aiyanna gasps in reaction, dropping her play- doh in shock.

"You don't know what's a piano? Wow Logan, you're so silly!" She laughs, Loki looking at her not amused. "It's a really nice instrument that you play - you can make music!" Loki listens, not very invested. He briefly thought of Asguardian instruments. The instruments that they have are harps, flutes, and drums. Other than that, there is nothing else.

"Hey, maybe I can play it for you next time when I ask Tony if he has a piano!" Aiyanna says happily, molding the clay in her hands to a little figurine. Loki stares down at his clay. It's a perfect sphere. He places back into its container, not into participating in child's play. _This is quite twisted._ He thought, observing Aiyanna. _A parent's killer spending time with the victim. How will this fare?_ Loki, not very sorry to say, felt nothing about Aiyanna's father's death. Frankly, it was the man's fault.

If he hadn't so recklessly thrown himself in front of the old man, he probably would've still been with his daughter. Didn't he think of the consequences, the foolish mortal? Then he wouldn't had left his child all alone. Then she wouldn't be here at Stark Tower as a taunting reminder to Loki…

Loki slams the top on top of the container. He had enough of these thoughts. Aiyanna looks up, a little startled. "You done playing Logan?"

"Yes." He replies, standing up. He couldn't find it in himself to spend time with this child anymore. It was so...unlike him.

"Okay." Aiyanna smiles, putting her clay back as well. She gets up to her feet, grabbing Loki's arm before he could walk away. Loki silently sighs to himself. This girl just makes it harder...though he couldn't find it in himself to push her away. Aiyanna gives a small, sleepy yawn. "I wanna go to bed. Logan, can you come with me?"

"Very well." Loki stiffly nods. Aiyanna leads him down the hallway, into a bedroom. She attempts to clamber on the bed, but it was too high for her height. Loki stares up at the ceiling. The Fates were cruel. He takes Aiyanna by the waist and gently lifts her up onto the bed. On the bedside, he noticed pictures of Tony Stark and his lady. _Stark allows this child to sleep in his bedroom? Touching._ Loki thought, bemused.

Aiyanna snuggles under the covers. Before Loki could make his getaway, she stops him. "Tell me a story." She says.

Loki stops at the doorway. Really…? Though once again, he relents. He sits at the foot of the bed. "What sort of story?"

The little girl shrugs. "Maybe a legend or some type of magical story. My daddy always told me those types of stories." She says the last part softly. Loki pretends to not hear that part.

"Alright then." He gazes out of the window. Before he could stop the words flowing from his mouth he says, "There is the legend of Jotunheim, the Frost Giants."

"Yo-tan-hem?" Aiyanna repeats, clearly not pronouncing it right.

Loki cracks a smile at the child's antics. "_Jotunheim,_" he repeats slowly to her. "They are feared creatures of a special warrior race called Asguardians." He pauses wondering why he was telling Aiyanna this. He shrugs it off. For the hell of it. "The Jotunheim and Asguardians are century old enemies. Each outcasted the other. Wars were always fought between the two races." Loki pauses.

Aiyanna is looking at him, wide-eyed. "What do Frost Giants look like?"

"Oh, they are monstorous." Loki replies, feeling disgusted himself. And to think that he's… "They have blue ice cold skin and red scary eyes. Sharp teeth and strange markings upon their skin - they are to be feared."

The blind little girl's face scrunches up, trying to think of them. "What did they ever do to the Asguardians for the both of them to be angry at each other?" She asks innocently.

"That's easy. Jotunheim are vile creatures, jealous of the Asguardians' glory. They crave the power that Asguardians possess. They are always out for war."

"That's too bad." Aiyanna says. "But...do Frost Giants have families?"

Loki freezes, taken aback by this innocent question. "Well...yes.'

"Do Asguardians have families?"

"Yes."

Aiyanna stares off behind Loki. "Then a lot of daddies must be lost in war. A lot of kids must be sad." Loki is in silence. He was amazed at the pureness and earnestness that the Midguardian displayed. "You know, my daddy's papa was a soildier. He fought in war. My daddy never saw his papa again after he fought." Aiyanna says, saddened at the thought. "Why do you think grown-ups have to fight in silly wars all of the time?" She questions him.

Loki could only stare at Aiyanna, flabbergasted. He regains his composure. "Well…" Loki thought about it. Why did Frost Giants and Asguardians had an undying hate towards each other? He realized. "I don't know." He told the little girl. "But what I do know, Aiyanna, is that grown-ups fight because...they want something. They always want more. They want to win. As well as the opposing side. Both sides want to win, so they fight. I supposed that's why."

The little Midguardian tightens the covers around her. "Oh. I think it's stupid. I think that the Frost Giants and Asguardians should make up. I don't see what's the real difference between them."

The black haired demigod absorbs Aiyanna's comment. He manages out a laugh. Children certainly have a naive hope and idealism that they possess. Loki somewhat envied it. He remembered that childish hope when he himself was a little one. But then that childish hope won't last for long. Eventually you start seeing the bad in the world. You have to accept it.

"I admire your idealism, but you truly don't understand…"

_Snoooree…_

Loki is startled by the sound. He relaxes to see that Aiyanna has dozed off, soft snores coming out of her. Endearing. Loki quietly gets up and walks out of the room. He felt...strange.

"Enjoy seeing your results?" He suddenly hears a woman say. He whips around, and sees the lady friend of Tony Stark. Her hard blue eyes bore into his. She crooks her finger. "Kitchen. Now." Loki obliges. Looks like his cover is blown. Once they got into the living room/kitchen room, the blonde woman goes up to Loki and slaps him.

Loki blinks, stunned. It actually stunged. Well, that was because of his weakened state. But..._ouch._

"I'm Pepper Potts." The woman says sharply to Loki. "You probably don't know me, but I'm the girlfriend and big damn CEO of Stark Corporations." She acknowledges the rising welt on Loki's face. "That. Was for trying to kill Tony and his friends." She slapped his other cheek. Loki hisses, grabbing his face.

"Do you have a death wish?!"

"Not like you can do anything." Pepper replies, unafraid. This shut Loki up. "And that was for trying to enslave my planet and killing billions of people." She points at Aiyanna's room down the hall. "_That_ is the face of your actions. Are you fucking satisfied?" She mumbles to him, up in his face. "Satisfied that you left a child fatherless? Because believe me, there are plenty of other people's lives that you destroyed."

Loki had enough. He grabs the indignant woman's arm, slamming her against the wall. "What? What the hell do you want me to do?" He growls to her. "Do you want me to cry and scream to the heavens how unfair it is? Do you want me to say a simple 'sorry' to all of the families who have lost their loved ones?" He lets go of Pepper's arm.

"Because here is the simple and plain reality, Lady Pepper - being sorry will not bring the dead back to life. Let me just say that I feel _nothing_ about the deaths of your people. Meaningless, blank lives." He spat spitefully.

Pepper looks coolly into Loki's eyes. "Is that so?"

"You can be sure you insolent mortal."

"Hm." Pepper looks at Loki for another moment. Finally she says, "You live up to your damn name. You really are the God of Lies."

Loki could only stare off after the woman, rendered speechless as she walks away from him down the hallway.

* * *

**A/N: Drraaaammmmaaaaa. There. You happy people. I GAVE YOU LOKI/AIYANNA INTERACTION. Look, don't expect him to be all cuddly with her. Their relationship will build up VERRAH slowly. I want to do my best to keep Loki in character, so fluffy moments between the two will come very later in chapters. G'night! Reviews please! :D**


	8. To Be Giving Condolences

**A/N: Whoops, sorry for not updating for the past couple nights. o3o Winners can't be choosers. At least that's how I think the saying goes… XD Plus, I had no idea what to write for this chapter. I just winged it. Sorry if the title doesn't make any sense. **

queenImno: Pepper just totally called Loki out! It was awesome!

**You gotta love Badass/Overprotective!Pepper. :D**

mezzieb1:Ohhhh... Nice come back pepper! Love your story!

**Well she doesn't put up with Tony without learnin' good comebacks. XD **

Moonstruck625:HOLY SHMOOZ! That was a really great chapter! I love the Loki/Aiyanna interaction, even if it wasn't snuggley. I really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really LOVE this story! Update as soon a possible please! :)

**I'm happy that you're satisfied with their interaction. I'm hoping myself that Loki will start being more soft to Aiyanna and the Avengers.**

fan-de-carlisle-cullen:That was a nice enough interaction. I guess Pepper was monitoring them thanks to JARVIS which is why she called Loki out on his lying about not caring.

**Cool that you like it. Pepper kinda caught Loki telling a story to Aiyanna, but she decided not to interept. I'm writing her perspective of the situation in this chapter. X)**

caramelkitkat:

This was fluffeh :3 you has made meh happy now :D

SO FLUFFEH XD

Thankyou :3 waited for this moment, you made a good job of it too :)

***sighs with relief* I'm so relieved to see that everyone loves it. Trust me, things will get even fluffier (not to mention emotional) as the story goes on. **

.9: I want more! This was so cute! I love you 3

**I enjoyed writing the Loki and Aiyanna scene myself. Love ya too. *throws a rose***

Echoflame of Fireclan:YAAAAAAAAY

okay! Satisfied.

I love Loki and Badass Pepper. Excellent. Another question-have you ever read the Gregor the Overlander series? (Human echolocation, just a thought!)

**Great that you're satisfied! As for Gregor the Overlander, nope, I never read it, but it is now on my reading list! You're quite the avid reader aren't you? ;D**

Layla Green:I am stunned completely can't wait for the next chapter! This is Amazing Aiyanna is Adorable and I love how Loki told her about war! You have so much talent for writing! :-*

**I seriously enjoyed writing their interaction as I stated before. I imagined that since Aiyanna is in a time where she's asking difficult, abstract questions, Loki would probably be the only one willing to answer them.**

TheOneandOnlyGoddessofAwesome:Gah I don't really like Pepper being mean to Loki even if he deserves it. (I know I'm so biased)

**Oh well. Everybody's bias with their own favorite characters. XD**

leebee14: PLEASE KEEP GOING! I LOVE THIS STORY SO MUCH!

Ja Ne

**Thanks, it's great that you love it! :D**

PrincessAnime8: AMAZING!

**Gracias.**

perciniem: PLEASE UPDATE THE STTORY! I FEEL SO HAPPY WHEN AIYANNA AND LOKI ACT! BUT CAN YOU WRITE MORE LOKI FLUFF? COZ I LOVE LOKI FLUFF!

**As much as I love writing Loki fluff and his interaction with Aiyanna, you probably won't see it until a few more chapters. I want some character development to be going on. I don't exactly imagine Loki open to idea of hanging out with one of victims. X)**

* * *

**"It has been said, 'time heals all wounds.' I do not agree. The wounds remain. **

**In time, the mind, protecting its sanity, covers them with scar tissue and the pain lessens. But it is never gone." **  
**_― Rose Kennedy_**

* * *

**~Chapter Eight~**

Thor may not be as brilliant as his brother Loki, but he had the sense to know that death is inevitable. As his father, Odin, once told him, 'everything has to have an end. The end is unavoidable.'

Though Odin reminds Thor this everything he goes into battles or adventures, death seemed like a million light years away to him. A few times the Asguardian has experienced deaths of fellow warriors, never one of his family members. Thor recalled them to be quite merry and honorable, since when an Asguardian dies, they usually die of a warriors' death or of old age.

When Thor traveled back to Midgard to defend it from the wrath of Loki, he was dearly reminded how Midguardians were so prone to death. It made Thor wince at the thought that Loki caused so much death and loss among the Midguardians - though it comforted him in his mind that those who died in the Battle of New York died a warriors' death, right? Wrong.

Thor shortly realized that thousands of innocent everyday Midguardians, that he had to admit, were average _nobodies_ died in the battle as well. They were ordinary mortals that lived out their lives in a simple way, yet content with the lifestyle. This made Thor truly uncomfortable with this fact, but in his heart he truly believed that Loki doesn't _deserve_ to be executed for his actions.

Altogether, he attended five in his life, most of them were gloomy experiences that Thor did not wish to experience again. Funerals are a rare thing in Thor's long lifespan. Given the fact that Asguardians had such long lifespans, most of the people that Thor knew in his life rarely passed. Out of all of them, Loki's funeral was the most devastating and haunting for Thor. Back when he and his family thought of Loki to be dead, they were heartbroken that they didn't even had his body to commence the honorary Asguardian funeral ceremony.

Even though back then when Thor thought of his dear younger brother to be dead, he felt as if he along with his parents were the only one who mourned for the loss. Citizens, warriors, Sif, and even the Warriors Three did not seem to be affected by it. Instead they mostly celebrated the fact that Thor has returned from banishment and for his rightful place for the throne. Thinking of their ways that easily brushed off his brother's death made Thor want to scream and smash anything next to him with Mjolnir.

To think that Loki's death meant nothing to everyone and that Thor's people can easily brush it off as a _joke_ as they always do when Loki does a prank of some sort made the god of thunder's blood boil. Though after Thor discovered that Loki was still very much alive on Earth and planning to enslave it for his own selfish purposes, he couldn't help but feel a mixture of relief, angers, and sorrow. After that, Thor secretly wished to never go to another funeral again.

So he was surprised when when he sees his team mate, Captain America and Bruce Banner dressed in black this afternoon.

"Friends!" Thor booms out. "What is the reason of your dreary attire?"

Steve and Bruce glance over to each other in realization. "It's for a funeral Thor." Steve informs the Asguardian. "It's a tradition that us, erm, 'Midguardians' as you call us, hold when a loved one or family dies."

Thor's eyes widen in shock. "Forgive me, Friend Steve! But pray tell, who has passed? Not one of our team mates, I pray! Is it Lady Widow?" Thor exclaims. He suddenly feels someone smack him on the neck. "Oof! What in the world?" Thor glances behind, seeing a cross Natasha. She too was dressed in a long sleeved black dress with a purse slung over her shoulder. She glares at him.

"Really Thor? The first Avenger to pass that crosses your mind is me?" She scoffs. "If that's the case I'd most likely be faking my death or I'm in another country with a new identity. Besides," The red head looks over to Hawkeye who's entering the room. He was dressed in a neat black suit, struggling to put on a tie. "This dumbass will most likely be the first one to die."

The master archer's head shoots up. "What's that Tash? Says the survivor that was once formerly a victim of a.k.a, moi?" Natasha rolls her eyes, though stares at the ground with a bitter expression. "Gee Miss Widow, take a joke." Clint says to her.

Bruce cracks a small smile of bemusement. "No Thor, none of our team mates died...well you see…"

Thor gives a blooming smile of relief. "That is good! Then who is the one that died…?"

"I don't want to wear black!" Thor and the others hear a girl's voice cry out stubbournly. The Avengers' attention turn to the doorway, where Tony, Pepper, and Aiyanna enter. Pepper and Tony were wearing black like everyone else, except for the little girl who's wearing a bright green neon skirt and blue sweater.

"C'mon kid, have respect for your old man." Tony says, looking weary. He holds up a little black dress. "For the funeral."

"I don't want too." The little girl repeats, shaking her head.

"Hello, Friend Stark!" Thor greets him with his usual loud voice. The other Avengers cringe, reflexing to plug their ears in. Aiyanna squeaks in fear, diving behind Pepper. Thor peers over her shoulder with an amused smile. "Lady Pepper," He nods at the blonde Midguardian, who smiles politely back. Thor looks over to the little girl, who's peeking from her hiding space behind Pepper. He smiles warmly at the child. "And who is the new little mistress here?"

The black haired girl gives a small smile at Thor, her brown eyes strangely looking past him. "You talk funny Thunder Man." She says to him. "Your voice kinda scared me at first. It reminded me of thunder. But it sounds really warm at the same time."

Thor gives a confused expression to Aiyanna, expectantly glancing over to Tony for explanation. "Oh yeah. Thor, this is Aiyanna. She's blind, and has a condition called, 'synesthesia.'" Thor gives a blank stare, understanding the fact that the girl was blind but not "synesthesia." Whatever that was. "We are, uhm, attending her father's funeral…"

"Oh." Thor's warm expression turns somber. "That is unfortunate. I am sorry for your loss." He says to Aiyanna. She nods, a sad look on her face. On cue, Pepper leads Aiyanna away, continuing on trying to convince her to wear black. Tony turns to Thor, a tired look on his face that the Asguardian never seen before.

"Is this child of your blood?" Thor questions.

"If that means if she's my family, no." Tony replies with a humorless smirk. "She's the daughter of one of my closest friends, Jacob Williams. And he died because of Loki." Thor freezes at this. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Tony closely monitoring his reaction. Thor breathes out.

"I...see." Thor's gaze falls to the ground. "I am sure Jacob Williams died an honorable death."

"Seriously? That's it?" Tony raises an eyebrow. "That's your reaction? Jacob was just a normal guy happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. It may seem to you that he died 'honorably,' but us people don't have a long lifespan like yours. When somebody dies like that, it's just damn horrible because they haven't lived their lives to the fullest!"

Thor looks down at the ground with shame. He glances over to Pepper and the other Avengers that are still trying to convince Aiyanna to wear black in the other side of the huge living room. "I know that my brother's actions are unforgivable but he views you Midguardians as...inferior. He cannot tell the value of mortal life."

Tony snorts. "Yeah, says the guy who had his ass handed by a bunch of other 'Midguardians' or whatever you call us."

"...He has been through a lot."

"Yeah, yeah Thor. Everybody has their _issues._ Loki's gotta learn that the whole world doesn't revolve around him." Tony snaps, getting worked up.

Thor goes closer to Tony, towering over him. "You have no _idea_ what has been through."

"Well you don't either!" Tony retorts. Thor feels his hands clench. "I bet you still don't know why your brother went bat shit crazy in the first place and why he _hates_ you-"

Thor had it. He will not take this kind of verbal abuse from _anyone._ Though he resisted to punch Tony's knowing expression off his face. A punch of strength like that will automatically kill the man. Instead, he simply smashed the microwave that is behind Tony. Tony's head snaps around, his expression in obvious shock. "What the hell-" Thor grabs a hold of his shirt. At this point, everyone in the room is looking at the two men. Steve looked as if he were about to say something to them, but Bruce holds him back.

"Man of Iron, you are correct. I still do not know why Loki has come to hate of me. But he is my brother. And _you,_" Thor twists Tony's shirt more. "Have no idea what we went through. You do not know who my brother is."

"I know that he's fucking crazy," Tony mutters under his breath. Thor pushes him against the wall with his one hand, Tony flinching at the action.

"Son of Stark, if we are going to live under the same roof, we are going to have to respect each other. Which means that you will not address me so indignantly and not verbally attack my family." Thor glares at Tony. "_Do you understand?"_

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever." Tony says huffily, clearly irritated.

Thor lets go, still staring Tony down. "_Jesus."_ Tony states. He glances over to the smashed microwave. "You're goddamn lucky that I'm rich."

"Well you are 'goddamn lucky' that I didn't attack you in retaliation." Thor repeats flatly. He looks over to the strange Midguardian contraption that he demolished. "And pardon my action for destroying your box device."

"It's called a microwave." Tony says in an obvious tone. "Just in case if you didn't know. Welcome to the 21st freaking century."

Thor shoots a sharp look at Tony. The CEO immediately backs down, though his demeanor still cocky. "Also, Man of Iron?"

"What."

"I wish to attend the ceremony for Jacob Williams." Thor states, his posture straightening. "That may not change anything, but I want to pay my respects along with you."

A surprised expression flashes across Tony's face, clearly catching him off guard. Then he gives a grudging nod of respect. "Alright then. My respect for you went up. By 1%."

"Is that a big thing?" Thor questions, before they head back to the group.

A tricky smirk edges on Ton's lips. "Of _course."_

* * *

The ride to the funeral home was silent. Aiyanna is still her her colorful attire, saying to Pepper and Tony that she didn't see the reason why her father's funeral should be so sad. They didn't argue with her after she said that. Thor tried his best to match the attire with everyone else by taking off his cape and Asguardian attire. He is left with a black trenchcoat and dark baggy gray pants. The group didn't have time to buy Thor some black clothing, given that the funeral was close to starting.

Tony made extra sure that the funeral was arranged to its finest and most private. He didn't want the media to be having a field day, making some dramatic story about Jacob's death. _The guy deserves to be left in peace._ Tony thought, clenching his written eulogy shoved in his pocket. He was up until two in the morning trying to write it out.

Before the Avengers, Pepper, and Aiyanna left Stark Tower, Tony made extra precautions that Loki was on lockdown in his floor. He was infuriated to be informed last night from Pepper about his encounter with Aiyanna - though at the same time _curious._ Tony would've expected the psycho-nut to gloat about it to one of his victim's daughter - but _no_ he played with and told her a story. Tony almost didn't believe what Pepper told him about what happened between Aiyanna and Loki. But it _happened…_

From what Tony can tell, not much people were going to be at the ceremony. There's him, the other team members, Pepper, Aiyanna, and Jacob's mother along with a few of his friends. But overall, that was about it. _The guy has always been a born traveler._ Tony thought idly. He looks over to Aiyanna, who is sitting in silence. Her hand is clenched around a typed eulogy. Tony made sure to buy Aiyanna a special braille typewriter to make her eulogy. She seemed happy about it.

"Go anything special to say for your dad?" Tony suddenly asks, breaking the somber silence.

Aiyanna glances up. "Yeah." She says in a quiet voice. "I made him a piano song too."

"Oh?" Tony raises an eyebrow. "You can play the piano?"

"Yeah."

"Hmm." It ends there. Tony couldn't help but feel a little worried in his stomach. Aiyanna seemed less chatty today. However, he consulted Bruce before they start traveling to the funeral home. He simply said that it was natural. The chauffeur calls out to the group, "We've arrived."

Everyone files out of the car into the funeral home. "Only a few minutes to spare." Tony says, glancing at his watch.

Aiyanna breaks out of her silence. "Can I use the bathroom?"

"Sure. Want someone to come with you?"

"No thanks." With that, Aiyanna walks off, her hands suspiciously shoved deep in her pockets.

_Weird._ Tony commented to himself. "Okay...let's go." He opens the doors to reveal a dark, small room. A simple chandelier with dim lighting glows within the room. An aisle of velvet rolls up to the front, where the casket is. Simple white roses are placed randomly all over the place. Chairs are at the side, where a few people were sitting. "Well…" He turns to the others, who looked a little uncomfortable and out of place. "Just take your seats. Erm, try to use your inside voice Thor." Tony couldn't resist. Though Thor looks a little curious and somber as well.

"Where are the ships where you place the body in…?" Tony hears Thor ask the group before the take their seats. Tony looks over to the front row, and recognizes a familiar figure. An old woman in a wheelchair along with a another woman is up in front. Tony feels himself relax, as he walks up to her. He manages to avoid looking at the open casket where Jacob lies in.

"Hey Mrs. Williams. Do you remember me?" He asks the old woman, with a half smile.

The woman peers up at Tony, her crinkled face furrowed. "Oh...T-Tony? Is that you?" She asks, her face warming up. "Tony! How are you?" She envelopes him into a huge hug. "I remember how you and my dear Jacob used to stay at the cottage out in the fields of Germany, it was nice so nice how you two played with each other." She says, holding Tony's hand tightly. "Are you here for Aiyanna's birthday? Oh my, where is my granddaughter?"

Tony looks at her, confused. "Mrs. Williams, today is not Aiyanna's birthday…we are all here for your son's funeral."

Mrs. Williams's eyes widen with surprise. "Oh no, no, no, no Tony. You must be mistaken. I saw Jacob a few days ago, he's still doing research in Egypt and dating such a nice lady, such a smart boy…" She rambles on nonsense. It dawns upon Tony that Mrs. Williams seems to have Alzheimer's, when he glanced over to the caretaker. She shakes her head as if saying, 'Go along with it.' Tony nods, feeling an emptiness inside him.

"Hi Grandmamma." Aiyanna suddenly says, appearing beside Tony.

Mrs. Williams' eyes light up. "Oh, my Little Flower, how are you?" She asks, opening her arms. Tony gently pushes Aiyanna into her grandma's arms. Aiyanna goes into them. Mrs. Williams strokes her hair. "My oh my, you have grown Little Flower. I thought that you turned seven yesterday?"

Aiyanna shakes her head. "No Grandmamma, I'm ten now."

"Oh my, it must have slipped my mind." Mrs. Williams' says, a troubled expression on her face. She pats a seat next to her. "Sit next to me, Little Flower?"

"Yes Grandmamma." Aiyanna says obediently, sitting besides her. Though she looks off in Tony's direction, a little wistful. Tony squeezes her shoulder.

"It's okay kiddo, be with your grandma."

Mrs. Williams suddenly smacks his hand away. "Mrs. Williams!" Her caretaker exclaims, looking apolegetically at Tony.

"Who are you? Get away from my granddaughter!" She says frantically.

Tony could only mutter a "sorry" as he walks away. Pepper and his friends are looking at him curiously, yet do not say anything, much to his secret relief. He could only stare off at the closed casket, where a dead Jacob Williams lies in. After a few minutes, a few more familiar faces that Tony and Jacob knew came in, and the ceremony starts when the pastor arrives in the front. Usually, Tony would've thought that gloomy music plays during funerals. But for some reason, _Footloose_ started playing.

"_**Been working so hard**_

_**I'm punching my card**_

_**Eight hours for what**_

_**Oh, tell me what I got…"**_

Everyone present in the room is frozen. "What a strange, cheery music choice for one who has died." Thor commented quite obviously.

But Tony can bet a thousand dollars on what everyone is thinking: _What the actual fuck?_ Though he notices Aiyanna giggling off to the side. Tony looks over to her, a suspicious look on his face. '_Can I go to the bathroom?'_ He remembers her saying earlier. He gives out a chuckle, the Avengers and Pepper looking at him with glares and incredulous expression. He mutters, "Little rascal." A warm memory comes to mind about 'Footloose.' Jacob listened to it 24/7 when a final or test was about to come out when they were both in boarding school.

The pastor up front looked flabbergasted. "Sorry, sorry for the mistake everyone." He says through the speaker. He goes over to the music player where 'Footloose' was probably playing.

"Wait!" Aiyanna's voice suddenly rings out. Everybody glances to her. "That's...my daddy's favorite song." She states. "And...I'm the one who put it in the player. Sorry." She mumbles, though a smile is playing on her lips.

"Oh...well you always could've asked." The pastor says, a little loudly over the singing of Blake Shelton. "Do you want to come up here and say a few words about your father?"

Aiyanna pauses noticeably. She nods. "Okay."

She clicks her tongue to make her way up front, her eulogy clenched in hand. She goes to the podium, the pastor kindly giving her a stool to stand up on. Tony wondered for a brief second if she could get stage fright. _Well if she gives an awkward speech, at least she can't see our reactions. Hahaha, not a good joke Tony._

The music to Footloose stop, for Aiyanna to talk. She starts talking. "My daddy really loved this song, Footloose. Sometimes he played it when he was feeling bad, and we'd both dance really crazy with no apparent reason. He said that there was a story about the song behind Footloose. He says it's about a hero named Kevin Bacon-"

Tony swore that he almost choke on his spit from trying to contain his laughter, as well as Pepper, the other Avengers, and people present in the room. That is, except for Thor and Steve who didn't get a clue what Aiyanna was talking about. "-Who moved into a place where he tried to teach people with sticks half up their butts who didn't know how to have fun, how to dance."

At this point, Tony couldn't help it. He bursted out into a fit of laughter that bought tears to his eyes. God, he expected Jacob to tell something like that to people. Others joined in with faint chuckles. Even Steve seemed to get the joke, a half cracked smile on his face. Except for Thor, who was still clearly lost. "Who would shove sticks up people's bottoms?" He ponders aloud. Bruce tried to explain it to the Asguardian between peels of laughter.

"That's besides the point, it's an expression-"

"That's just cruel." Thor shakes his head at the thought. This only made The Avengers and Pepper laughed even harder. When the laughter finally died down, Aiyanna continued talking. "My daddy said that if he were to die, he wanted his funeral to be happy and that I should wear black, since it doesn't look good on me. I never took him seriously. But now, it's really hard not being sad. Because I am sad. But at the same time, I want my daddy's funeral to be happy and funny and people not be sad. All I just can say is that I miss my daddy and that I love him." Aiyanna says the last part simply and honestly. Everyone has gone quiet at this point.

She bows her head and whispers, "Thank you." And walks off stage, leaving everyone in silence.

The pastor appears. "Does anybody else wish to make a statement for Jacob Williams?"

"I do." Tony stands up. He walks to the podium with consent from the pastor. He looks out to the people present. "Y'know, I knew good old Jacob ever since I was in eighth grade. What makes me remember him was that he forced me to listen to Footloose everytime we were studying for something." This got a few laughs out from the audience. "Jacob...was one of those guys in your life that are your real friends. As air headed he can be with that short attention span, there was a thing that I admired about the guy - who stood up for what he believed in and he always persisted. No matter the cost."

Tony pauses, glancing off to the coffin. "And that's what he did til' the very end. He believed that...you shouldn't give in to someone that is trying to impose their beliefs on to you. And boy, did he defy that. On the day that he died, he died saving a life." Tony nods at the old German man in the corner of the room. The old man nods back. "Even though Jacob's work is not like Albert Einstein's or whatever, and that he was just a common man trying to raise a daughter, Jacob died a hero on that day. So I want to pay him back. By taking care of that crazy kid, over there." Tony points over to Aiyanna sitting in the front.

She smiles and blushes proudly. Tony looks down at the podium. "I'm going to miss Jacob as well. I regret not talking to him for the past crazy few years...he's friend that I won't forget, as cheesy as I sound. Thanks." Tony walks offstage in a blink of an eye. Pepper takes a hold of his hand.

Steve walks up the podium next, taking a moment to adjust the microphone. "I didn't know Jacob very well - but I learned so much about him on the day I witnessed his death. Like Tony said, he died standing up for what he believed in and saved a life. He is as great as a hero as Captain America, Iron Man, and any other superhero you can believe in. I know, myself what it feels like to lose your father." Steve is looking in Aiyanna's direction at this point.

"To lose a mother. Your friends. Everything you once knew." Tony strokes his goatee. All he could think was...damn this was deep. "Here is a quote about grief: 'We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey.' Quote from, Kenji Miyazawa." Steve gives a moment of silence. "Though I know its hard to go on in life with the pain, the loss you have to carry - because here's a fact folks: you can never get over the loss of one you love. No matter what.

"One moment you think that you're over it - but then it dawns on you, that loss. Because through life, though you move on, grief becomes a part of you. But you learn, how to cope with it."

Steve's words reaches everyone. Everyone is silent in thought.

The Cap stares out at the crowd. "Thank you." He finally says. Tony pat his back when Steve arrived back.

"What can you expect? Capsicle always had a way with words." Tony says with a touch of pride to Pepper.

Next, much to the Avengers' and Pepper's surprise, Thor came up to the podium. "I too, did not know of Jacob Williams. I was just informed of his death today. He died by...Loki's hands." Tony could tell he struggled not to say, 'brother.' "It is unjusticable for one man to take another's out of rage. Unhonorable, as my people would say. Throughout my whole life, death is rare to me. Usually when someone I knew died, I know that they died honorably.

"But coming here to this place - I am reminded how inevitable death is. As my father once said, 'the end is unavoidable.' All I can say is that I am astounded how people can pull through with death so common in one's world - for in a way, you have your own quiet strength. Jacob Williams died on what I would call a, 'warriors' death.' He died with ferocity that should not be forgotten. I shall now listen to Footloose in his honor."

Tony out of the corner of his eye, sees Aiyanna laugh softly.

Thor gives a bow to the audience. "Thank you, for listening to my words." He goes down. He is the followed by what Tony really didn't expect - the old German man.

He faces the audience. "My name is Gerald. But you probably won't remember. Today, I just learned the name of the one who saved me on the fateful night in Germany. Jacob Williams. I knew I had to pay my respects to the young man." Gerald takes a moment to pause. "On that night, I felt true fear. Fear that was equal from the one at my time in the concentration camps."

Tony notices that Steve leans in, his hands clasped tightly together. "When that Loki fellow came in and ordered everyone to bow to him - I couldn't take it. I knew that if this old body were to go out, it were to go out defying men like him. I didn't expect for others to stand up with me. To listen to an old man." Gerald is looking over to Aiyanna, who is listening closely as well.

"I truly thought that I was about to die when that Loki stranger was about to kill me with that shiny staff of his - when Jacob blocked the way." Gerald gives a wry laugh. "I still do not understand why would someone with a full life ahead of them save someone that is so close to death. It amazes me - and assures me that there are still brave and selfless people out there in the world. I give my condolences." With that, Gerald hobbles offstage.

A few more strangers shared a few experiences about Jacob, and then the funeral was over. Aiyanna walks up to where to coffin is, beside her Grandma and the caretaker. Tony walks up next to her, along with Pepper. "Tell me, Tony," Aiyanna whispers. "What does my daddy look like?"

Tony manages to look into the coffin. Jacob looked like as if he were snoozing off any day in the middle of his studies, with his peaceful expression. "He looks...peaceful. Like he's sleeping." Tony says to Aiyanna. "And he's wearing a snazzy looking suit." Aiyanna gives a faint smile. She gently places a CD Case of 'Footloose' inside the casket. "Promise not to tell?" She asks.

"Cross my heart. Our hearts." Tony looks over to Pepper when he said that. Aiyanna smiles with gladness. "Let's go to the reception. Is that where you're going to play your piano song?" Tony asks Aiyanna. She nods taking him by the hand, and her grandma's with the other.

"I look forward to it." He smiles.

* * *

Loki sits boredly on a couch in his prison/floor. The Avengers left over an hour ago. No word, all Tony said was, "Stay put Reindeer Games," and simply left.

The god of mischief is sitting upside down. He wondered if he could make all of his blood rush to his head. He recalled last night. Boy, did Tony gave him one straight up of a threat when he found out that he has met the little blind Midguardian girl. Loki took his threat half seriously. He wouldn't had, if he actually had his magic.

He couldn't help but wonder what the Man of Iron was making such a big fuss about. It was not like Loki would get anything out of killing a little girl...and that he would get any pleasure from it. It was pointless and it gained him nothing. Loki wondered why he was more comfortable murdering a bunch of grown-ups instead of children. He stared up at an upside down painting.

_It is probably because of how young and innocent they are,_ He mused. _So inexperienced...having such bright futures ahead._ Then again, Loki was comfortable murdering Midguardians rather than Asguardians. He knew that his perspective would be considered petty and disgusting to others when he only views killing Asguardians as murder and Midguardians as no more than killing an ant.

Though, he shrugs it off. It's not like he could change who he was.

Loki also recalled that Aiyanna went off with The Avengers. Now where would the bunch of them go? It was awfully boring and dull in the Tower without Hawkeye or Black Widow looming over and watching his every move, or Tony checking in making his snazzy remarks. Thinking of Aiyanna awashed a sense of comfort over Loki for some reason.

He now recalled her saying that she would play the piano for him "next time." He gives himself a small smile, turning back over. The whole room spun around. Through his mixed, jostled thoughts, Loki couldn't help but look forward to it.

* * *

**A/N: Feel trip brah with Aiyanna, Avengers, and Pepper. I know Loki wasn't in this chapter as much, but meh. You get what you get. Hopefully, you'll see him in the next chapter spending some more time with Aiyanna. *grins loftily* **


	9. To Be Keeping A Promise

Protagonist of Life: She will be heartbroken when she learns the true identity of "Logan" and on that day, I shall ball my fucking eyes out. Oh, and don't think you could slip that Guardians of the galaxy referance past me. You sly writer you. :D

**I knoooowww, I honestly can't wait until I get to writing that part when Aiyanna uncovers the truth. But not after I write many chapters of her bonding with Loki to make the whole ordeal HEART WRENCHING! AHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA! XD Yeah, I'm just too evil. Can't believe you caught that reference you gosh darn meddling kid! (But I was wondering if someone was going to catch it…) **

Moonstruck625:I couldn't stop laughing when Aiyanna gave her little speech about footloose! You truly are a great writer and I can't wait for the next chapter!

• _ • ( I'm smiling a very hard thing to get me to do!)

**Thanks! I was inspired from watching Guardians of The Galaxy (that was freaking awesome) and I couldn't stop laughing at that joke. (I have no idea how you made that emoticon tho. 0_0)**

TheOneandOnlyGoddessofAwesome:Aiyanna feels... I think that it was really touching when she said that her dad wanted the funeral to be happy... Idk that scene just touched me.

**I kno...feeeellllzzzzz. There's plenty of more where that came from. ;D**

.9:So many feels! And Loki missing Aiyanna was so cute 3

**I wouldn't call him "missing" her, but the guy is definitely coming to caring for the kid.**

alexma:love your fanfic please update soon thanks

**Thanks! X) **

CausticCottonballs: FEELS

**FEEL TRIP I TELL YA. (There's going to be more in the chapter as well…)**

199nine: This is so amazing! I like the Guardians of the Galaxy reference BTW. Can't wait for the next chapter. :D

**Thank you! You caught the reference as well! :D I love that movie to death man.**

* * *

_**- Clarence Budington Kelland, American author**_

**My father didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.**

* * *

**~Chapter Nine~**

For Thor, the reception after the 'wake' as the Avengers explained it to him, was uneventful. It was like some sort of party with food and soft music playing in the background, but with a dreary and gloomy atmosphere. "Is the funeral almost to its end, Friend Steve?" Thor asks the Captain.

Steve nods. "Almost. A few minutes more, and we're going to the cemetery where the body's going to get buried…" He trails off at that part. Thor nods somberly, though still ponders to himself why Midguardians don't have ships where they place the corpse to burn it. It is the highest honor in his customs - but Thor is open to Midguardian's different ways.

"Here ye, here ye," Tony says in a loud (that he managed to not sound so obnoxious and loud sounding when Tony shouts), while clinging a champange glass with a spoon.

"What is he doing?" Thor hears Steve mutter besides him in disbelief.

Tony, with a lopsided smile on his face, waves his hand behind him. Thor sees Aiyanna sitting behind some sort of black box. "Aiyanna Williams is here to play a song she created for her father. Right kid?" Tony looks over to her. "What's it called?"

Aiyanna pauses. "I call it, 'For Daddy.'" She says softly.

Tony nods, Thor seeing a sot expression on his face. It goes back into his show business facade to the small audience. "Enjoy and be quiet." He says curtly, and walks off stage. The soft music playing the backgroud stops, the lights dimming.

"What is that foreign object that Aiyanna sits behind of?" Thor questions Steve and Bruce.

"Oh. It's a Midguardian instrument called a piano." Bruce says to him. "It's a really nice instrument to make music with." Thor nods, looking at Aiyanna. At first, she repeatedly presses the same key on the piano for a minute, along with other random notes. Her eyes are not on the piano in front of her, her gaze looking out to the audience.

Finally, she starts playing. The start was slow paced. Slightly nostalgic to Thor. He closes his eyes to get the better experience of hearing the piano for the first time. Deep, light, up, down - it was like some sort of unpredictable ride for the god of thunder. It was soothing.

Aiyanna goes on playing with the slow, comforting pace on the piano. As she is playing, her mouth is forming into words. Thor can read some of them such as, 'egyptian blue, aquamarine ruby red,' and so on. He suspected it had something to do with her condition, 'synesthesia,' as Tony explained to him earlier.

As the piano song goes on, the notes get deeper and lighter at the same time - a wild mixture of both tones. It escalates higher, gets more intense, face paced. A deep passion is on Aiyanna, as she gets more absorbed into playing. The song at this point is fast, deep, and emotional. Thor can feel the _love_ that the little Midguardian input into the song - her admiration for her father, the memories she made with him, the experiences she once shared - in a way, Thor can see the colors like Aiyanna could when playing the notes.

The notes get lighter and fainter - and it stops. Quite abruptly. Without an end.

Thor's eyes fly open. Aiyanna is sitting back, a quiet expression on her face. _Is that it?_ He thought. _The ending to the song is so...abrupt. No closure. _

Without any word, she walks down from the stage. People present in the room are taken aback by the unfinished ending of the song. Yet the abrupted into applause. Thor is clapping as well, though is wondering why the song had no end to it.

She is lead to the group of Avengers and Pepper by Tony. "That's it Aiyanna?" Thor hears the CEO ask the girl.

She nods. "Yeah." She is looking at her hands. "I didn't know what to play next. I didn't finish the song. I didn't know what to play next because the colors of my daddy's life didn't come to mind anymore." Her hair covers her face. "It's just like him. He ended so soon."

The Avengers and Pepper are silent. "Well, what do you know. The reception's over." Tony says, seeing men dressed in dark attire carrying the casket out of the doors. "Guess we have to head back to the cars."

Aiyanna nods once again, distant. Thor, for some odd reason, is suddenly reminded of Loki. He recalls back in their childhood, Loki always seemed quite distant and kept to himself. Unlike Asguardians in their childhood who brawl and combat every chance they get, Loki preferred to curl up in libraries or dedicate his time to his studies. Although Thor remembered his younger brother to be nevertheless strange from the Asguardian norm, he still loved Loki nevertheless.

Up until this point, Thor knew that their relationship was almost beyond repair, a weak part of him still longs for his brother. Thor found that no matter how much he _tried_ to force himself to hate or become angry at his brother, his heart always found a way to forgive him. Like the saying goes, 'blood is thicker than water.' He can tell that his team mates and Midguardian friends couldn't wrap their minds around the concept about Thor's undying family loyalty for Loki - but Thor would like to see them in his shoes.

If he knew one thing, no matter what your family member does, no matter how horrible, there's still that little part inside of you that loves them.

Walking out of the funeral home, Thor glances over to Aiyanna, who is ahead of the group. She is with her grandma, holding onto her hand. He smiles to himself. _I am sure that if Aiyanna were to meet Loki when he was her age, they would've been very good friends._ His smile immediately vanishes. He knew that such thoughts will be frowned upon by others. A killer spending time with a victim? That is disasturous.

* * *

'_It's just like him. He ended so soon.'_ Aiyanna's words echo in Pepper's mind. She felt a motherly instinct take over when thinking of this. And a sense of helplessness. Pepper is a woman that always manages to solve a problem that's thrown at her. From last minute parties demanded by Tony to facing some jerkass CEOs in meetings, Pepper almost thought that she can handle, fix, and solve any problem at hand.

But in this situation, where a kid that she almost considers her daughter at this point, is mourning for her _real_ parent, Pepper felt useless to do anything about it.

Pepper stares at the window in deep thought, as she grips Tony's hand. He is gripping her hand too. She closes her head, leaning her forehead against the window. A thought comes plainly to mind. _Life can be so shittingly unfair sometimes. No, how about all the time. _Pepper thought. She heaves out a sigh. _I think that it's a scientific fact that the baddest things happen to good people. No lie. _

She thought back on her parents when she herself was a child. They were always struggling with money and trying to maintain the household. In short, they were poor. On welfare, in debt, you name it. Pepper remembered that she absolutely hated it. She didn't want to be poor. So she climbed her way up to the top. Studying hard in school, set on getting a good resume, Pepper was determined.

When she got her position as Tony's assistance - hell, almost having the title of being CEO of Stark Corporations, Pepper couldn't believe. Once coming from a poor family, Pepper made it to the top. Though she created many regrets for herself as well…

Growing up, Pepper recalled that she immersed herself in her studies, shutting herself out from her parents that tried the best for her. She remembers that she hasn't talked to them since. A pang goes through her heart. Why does she have to think about this now?

The blonde sighs, brushing some hair out of her face. How can she be the mom that Aiyanna never had? She remembered Tony explaining to her about where Aiyanna's mother really was - it sent anger and surprise down Pepper. But what can she do? She just has to concentrate on the present.

Pepper's thoughts wander over to Loki. Anger seethes through her mind. She did not want that _psychopath_ anywhere near Tony or Aiyanna. _But you saw him last night,_ A small voice whispers. _You saw him. You saw him facing the consequences. You saw how he acted towards Aiyanna. He can see the ways of his actions. _Frankly, when Pepper checked in Aiyanna through JARVIS, she was scared out of her mind when she saw through surveillance that Loki was with Aiyanna.

When Pepper rushed to the floor, she was dazed seeing that the killer of thousands is telling a goddamn story to a ten year old. _Holy shit_ was all Pepper could muster up. She thought of barging in and attacking Thor's brother with pepper spray - but she continued watching him as he spent time with Aiyanna. Pepper was oddly fascinated and horrified. Not to mention, scared.

_But, _Another voice reminds her. _You know that the day will come where Aiyanna will find out that "Logan" is Loki. How will that turn out?_

She draws closer to Tony, her hand entwined with his. She shouldn't think of this...but…

The cemetery comes into view outside of the window.

_There's the possibility where Aiyanna can befriend him and he can regret his actions. _The thought crosses Pepper's mind before everyone in the car gets out.

* * *

Aiyanna feels the hand of Grandmamma's caretaker, Jill her name is, take hers. "We're here Aiyanna." Her warm, velvety voice say to her. They get out of the car.

"Jill, tell me why we are here again…?" Grandmama voice says. Familiar colors pop in Aiyanna's head. Mellow yellow, lavender, light pink…

"Don't you remember?" Aiyanna hears Jill says, patience in her voice. "We're here for your son's burial."

"Ah…! My poor Jacob…" Grandmamma's soft, wrinkly hand takes Aiyanna's. "Hold me, my dear Flower."

"Yes, Grandmamma." Aiyanna says, as they head into the cemetery. She recalls the few times before when she walked past them. She definitely didn't like them. No sounds come at all from the silent place. Aiyanna just gets the feeling of..._tranquility. _A sense of something final. It sends an unease up her spine, though at the same time comforts her.

And now, she is walking in the cemetery where her daddy is going to get buried. _Is he just going to stay here forever?_ Aiyanna thought, a little alarmed. The thought of her father staying in one place is alien to her. All of her life, just her and Daddy traveled all over the world. Aiyanna remembered that Daddy always had something new to research and work on - almost everyday was something for him to discover.

Sudden sadness awashes Aiyanna. Though her heart clings onto the teeniest tiniest possibility that her father can _somehow_ come back - like he did before when he was on a research trip in Antartica for over a month - Aiyanna can feel the hopelessness of the situation. There is no way out. There is no loophole or fairy godmother to grant Aiyanna's deepest wish for her daddy to come back.

_Daddy is on a trip that he will never ever return from. _Aiyanna thought, as the pastor speaks a few words about her father. Her heart cries out at this. _Why, why won't he return? Why did he have to leave me all alone…?_ Helpless. She now feels helpless. Trapped in a gloomy, dark world. Not like the world that Aiyanna sees in her blind perspective - but a world where she can see no colors at all. Colorless. What a strange, dreary, boring world.

"I would like to read a quote," Honey yellow blossoms in Aiyanna's head. She allows a small smile. Pepper. "Ahem," She clears her throat. "I don't know Jacob Williams at all. But I know how much he is _worth_ to his daughter." Aiyanna can feel Pepper's warm gaze looking upon her. Aiyanna smiles sadly. "Overall, life is unfair. That is fact. And it seems that the baddest things happen to the most good people." Pepper sighs.

Aiyanna tightens her grip on Grandmamma. Can Pepper read her mind?

"And here is a quote for that thought: 'A father and son were in the meadow, mourning the mother's death. The son asked his father, 'Why do the good people have to die?' Without hesitation, the father answer, 'You see these flowers in the meadow? Well, you would pick the most beautiful ones.'"

Aiyanna's eyes water. She would never again pick pretty flowers.

Pepper takes a deep breath out. "I...well. That's it. Uhm, thank you." She says, sounding a little embarrassed. Aiyanna didn't see the reason why.

"Here kid," Aiyanna hears Tony says. "A rose. Say...goodbye to dad."

Aiyanna nods, as she hears people starting to walk away. She puts her hand on the coffin. It's cool, smooth. She hopes that the coffin is blue. Blue is Daddy's favorite color. Water drips down. Aiyanna blinks, glancing up. Is it raining? More water drips down on her face. Aiyanna blinks rapidly. She wishes she has an umbrella. Why doesn't she have an umbrella? It's not fair. Her breath speeds up. Tony's familiar hand is placed on her shoulder.

Aiyanna takes a deep breath, trying to even out her breathing. She gently places the rose on top of the coffin. She kiss her hand, and places it on top of the coffin. "Bye Daddy," She whispers. "I'll miss you."

* * *

Tony walks back in silence through the cemetery along with the others. He didn't like these kind of places. Grabbing hold of a place to bury Jacob's body was hard enough - after all of the many deaths from the battle that took place...Tony feels his hands clench up. Just damn it all. Before he enters the car with the rest, Aiyanna's grandma holds Aiyanna back.

"Little Flower, be strong," Grandmamma says to Aiyanna, tears streaming down her face.

"Yes Grandmamma, I will, I promise." Aiyanna says to her, her face now dry of tears.

"Good, good." Her grandma takes out a necklace. It's in the shape of a small pouch. She puts it over Aiyanna's head. "This is passed down through Williams' family. Wear it. Your father did as well. Place three things inside of it. It is a charm for luck." Grandmamma presses the necklace pouch against Aiyanna's chest. Aiyanna grabs a hold of it.

"As the old German saying goes Little Flower, '_Aller guten Dinge sind drei.'"_ The old woman pats Aiyanna's arm. "All good things come in three. Remember that."

"I will Grandmamma," Aiyanna whispers. "Thank you. I love you."

"I love you too, Little Flower. These are good people." Mrs. Williams' nods at Tony. He nods back. _At least she remembers for now…_ Tony thought. He couldn't bring himself to the obvious truth that Aiyanna's grandmother is close to dying herself. Aiyanna then enters the car with Tony and the others.

The drive back is in silence once again. The whole way, Tony sees Aiyanna's hand grasped tightly around her new necklace. Aiyanna breaks the silence.

"Will I forget daddy?" She asks.

The Avengers and Pepper all look over to her. "I'm...scared," She says slowly. "I'm scared that I'll forget him when I get older and older. Because he won't be there for me anymore." She states out of the window.

"Kid," Natasha suddenly says, much to everyone's surprise. Tony nearly spewed out the water he was drinking. Natasha was the last person that would cross his mind to give advice to a little girl. "Everyone in this car, has lost something or someone important in their life." The agent says seriously. Aiyanna listens. "And we never ever forgotten that important someone or something - because they are what drives us." Natasha sits back, her arms crossed.

"It's gonna be hard, but don't loom on it. Take your time to grieve - I can't guarantee it's going to be easy. Because it's not. Like Steve said, you'll never get over grief."

Steve's head snaps up at the mention of his name. He turns red. "You actually remember what I said?"

Natasha rolls her eyes. "Yeah. Don't get me wrong, your words were pretty much kind of touching." She shrugs.

"So you _do_ have a heart," Clint gasps.

The Black Widow promptly elbows him in the ribs. Apparently hard. "Oof!" He doubles over.

"That's besides the point." She says dryly. The redhead actually reaches over to pat Aiyanna's shoulder. "The grief and loss will always be there. But, you start anew."

"Wise, wise words my Yoda. The Force is strong." Tony says mockingly. Immediately, he is shot down by her death glare.

"Who is Yoda?" Thor questions, confused at the reference.

Tony gasps dramatically. "You good sir come from outer space, yet you didn't even watch Star Wars? For shame Thunder Man. You haven't lived until you watch it." This earned a few chuckles out of the group. Even Aiyanna manages a smile.

"Okay, I think I understand. But I still feel really sad."

"That's okay. It's _human_ to feel sad," Bruce says tp Aiyanna. "There's no use in trying to force yourself to feel happy. Take as much time as you need."

Aiyanna nods absent mindedly, twirling her necklace. "Hey Tony?" She asks.

"Yeah kiddo?"

"Can I see Logan when we get back? I promised that I'll play him the piano, since he's never heard of it before. Do you have a piano Tony?"

Tony did not stop himself from spit taking this time. The water sprays onto Bruce. But Bruce seemed way too shock to even react. Everyone seemed to freeze from shock.

Aiyanna cocks her head, clearly confused. "Guys?"

* * *

Loki was surprised that the first thing that Tony, Thor, and Pepper did when they arrived back at the Tower was barge into his floor. He stares up at the surrounding forced guests, in a bland interest. "And what is the special occasion that I owe you?"

Tony is glaring at him with a scowling expression. "You remember Aiyanna, right? That kid who's father you killed?"

Loki's eyes flash. Did the mortal just cross _that_ line? He pretends to ponder this. "Hmm, well I can't recall. There's just so many lives that I happened to crush-"

"_Damn _you!" Tony snaps. He made a move to hit Loki, though Thor holds him back.

"Friend Stark, he is playing with your mind! He knows perfectly well who you speak of, do not let his words get into you!"

Loki rolls his eyes. "And how can you tell, Thor?"

"Your eyes." Thor replies. "You can hide everything but your eyes. They flit around before you make a lie."

"Hm. You're smarter than you look of, Thor." Loki says flatly. "What does Aiyanna have to do with me?"

"If you didn't know, we went to her father's funeral." Pepper says. Loki raises an eyebrow at her, and feels his eyes lower.

"How does that concern me?"

"Unless you have a heart, which I'm sure you _don't_," Tony says, breaking out of Thor's grasp. "Aiyanna wants to play the piano for you."

Loki freezes, glancing up. "...Touching." He felt a strange feeling twinge in his chest.

"Yeah. Do your best not to be a jackass, will you?"

Loki glares at Tony. "Very well. If, it pleases the child…" Though a warmth is in his chest. A bit of sentimentality. So the little girl did keep her word.

* * *

Hawkeye, Black Widow, and Tony watch Loki and Aiyanna closely through the computer surveillance. All of them drink coffee in a fascinated silence, as Aiyanna plays the same piano song as she did in the funeral. In the surveillance, Loki is listening, his eyes closed. He seemed to be _enjoying_ it.

"Are you sure this is the bastard we knew a few days ago?" Clint asks with a scowl.

"I think so," Tony replies, taking a huge bite of a dougnout. "This is so fucking backwards that it actually scares the shit outta me."

"The kid still doesn't know?" Clint questions. "That 'Logan' is actually Loki. A.k.a, her dad's killer?"

"Let her be ignorant while it lasts." Natasha says in a firm tone. "Ignorance is a bliss."

"Yeah, well deceit is a jerkass!" Clint exclaims. He turns to Tony. "Stark. You know that this whole thing is gonna blow up if we keep this charade on. Let's face the facts, Aiyanna for sure will not react well."

Tony only sips some more coffee, watching the footage of Loki and Aiyanna. Aiyanna is now teaching Loki to play. Tony sees a faint warm amusement on Loki's face - not the kind he sees when he does something sadistic but something…genuine. "Well, let's just think about today Birdbrain. I'm a man of today."

Clint sighs. "Is everyone being gullible? Are you falling for Loki's act?"

"He's not acting." Natasha says curtly. "Honestly Clint, do you think that he'll get anything out of spending time with a little girl?"

The archer sniffs. "He could be trying to manipulate her and us."

"Hm. Is that so?" The Russian gazes at the screen. "Clint, you know that I'm trained to register others' emotions. And from what I can see, here," Natasha taps on Loki's face. "Is real, genuine enjoyment. Loki isn't planning anything."

"So you're supporting the fact that her a mass murder killer is hanging out with one of his victims?" Clint accuses Natasha and Tony.

Tony shrugs at Natasha. "He has a point."

"You have a point." Natasha repeats. "But I'm curious to see where this will lead to."

Clint could only shake his head. "I'm telling you, this is going to blow fucking up. And I'm not going to take part of it." He says, walking out of the room.

* * *

**A/N: Yeah, Clint is being a little harsh, but he has a point. This IS gonna blow up. Oh yeah, if you want to search up Aiyanna's piano song, 'For Daddy,' search up on Youtube, 'I Won't Let You Walk Alone,' by musicalbasics. His piano songs are amazing, emotional, and original. I imagined as this song to be Aiyanna's song in dedication for her father. Reviews please!**


	10. To Be Seeing Another Perspective

**A/N: Sorry peeps. Once again, I had no idea what to write for this chapter. XD But I have it all figured it out now…**

Lady Syndra: Looking forward to the next chapter!

**Thanks for the review, hope you read more! X3**

TheOneAndOnlyGoddessofAwesome: Noooo don't make it blow up please and also honestly is spelled wrongly it's not honestll

**Hmm… *thinks about it* Nope, I'm gonna make it blow up big time. I'm sorry, I'm just heartless towards characters like that. XD Whoops. Plus, thanks for pointing out the typo, I fixed it! ;D**

fan-de-carlisle-cullen:They all have a point. But the interaction between Loki and Aiyanna is truly heartwarming. :)

**Yes, yes they do. Which will make the moment where Aiyanna finds the Big Reveal out, well...that won't be so fun. **

.9:'I Won't Let You Walk Alone' is really beautiful! I didn't expect to have Loki in this chapter! You just tricked me XD

**Wow, you actually searched up the song! (I don't think anyone else did, I don't know…) It's one of my favorite piano songs, it just makes me feel...nostalgic. Don't worry there is plenty of more Loki where that came from!**

caramelkitkat:Loki better like the piano otherwise the kitkat is gonna be mad D:

**Don't worry, I think he does like it. X)**

leebee14:Yayyyyyy

'**Yaaaay' indeed.**

person D:excuse me whilst I melt into an emotional puddle of feels.

**Don't worry bro, I'm here for you. We're all in this together! *fist pumps***

Moonstruck625:This was a really could chapter! It was sad but good. Oh and I made the emoticon by putting a bullet point, an underscore and then another bullet point. It comes out like this • _ •

**Thank you! Of course I'll make future chapters even more sad. XD**

literatureliving17: The feels! So many! But I loved Natasha giving advice to Aiyanna; its's definitely true that all of the Avengers know about loss. It also made me chuckle when Tony spit his drink all over Bruce. At least he didn't Hulk-out or anything :) I can't wait to see how this blows up

**Thank you, exactly my thoughts! The Avengers certainly know loss...is it wrong for me to say that I'm looking forward to writing when this whole thing blows up in everyone's faces? Yep, I'm heartless. **

* * *

**"No one just starts giggling and wearing black and signs up to become a villainous monster. How the hell do you think it happens? It happens to people. Just people. They make questionable choices, for what might be very good reasons. They make choice after choice, and none of them is slaughtering roomfuls of saints, or murdering hundreds of baby seals, or rubber-room irrational. But it adds up. And then one day they look around and realized that they're so far over the line that they can't remember where it was." **

― _**Jim Butcher, Cold Days**_

* * *

**~Chapter Ten~**

Aiyanna woke up in bed at 10:05 in the morning. She yawns and blinks, feeling a sense of peace, almost forgetting that she was Aiyanna, that her father is never coming back, that she was in a hotel with her father in Peru or some foreign country. But it all comes crashing back to her that she _is_ Aiyanna, that her father is _never_ coming back, and that she is in Tony and Pepper's bed. Aiyanna dove back under her covers. She wanted to forget again. But she's not tired anymore.

She slowly gets up from bed, feeling the empty covers. No Pepper. No Tony. Did they eat breakfast without her? Aiyanna clicks her tongue. Door is a few paces away to the right of her. Aiyanna makes her way for it. She pauses, raising her head to feel any familiar noises like water running or the scraping of plates and chairs. Nothing. Silence.

Aiyanna leads herself where the kitchen and living room is located. "Tony? Pepper?" She calls out. Her voice almost echoes in the emptiness of the floor. No one is here.

"Good morning Aiyanna," The computerized voice of JARVIS greets her. Aquamarine blue appears in her head. Aiyanna feels herself relaxed, comforted by the fact that she's not _completely _alone.

"Hi JARVIS." Aiyanna says to the AI. "Where's Tony and Pepper?"

"Mister Stark is currently battling Doctor Doom with the other Avengers in Los Angelos."

JARVIS informs her. Aiyanna gives a little gasp. She knows for one thing that Los Angelos is pretty far away from New York. And who is 'Doctor Doom?' "He gives you his sincerest apologies that he cannot be present for breakfast. Do you wish for me to phone him now?"

"Okay, yeah please." Aiyanna nods. She manages to find the couch, and sits down on it.

_BOOM! CRASH!_

The sounds explode loudly in Aiyanna's ears. She gives a short scream, plugging her ears.

"Aiyanna, kiddo?" The familiar voice of Tony says aloud.

Aiyanna unplugs her ears, smiling to see red and gold exploding in her head. "Erm, good morning kid!" Tony gives out a loud battle cry, followed by a an explosion and screams. "WATCH OUT STEVE, YOU IDIOT!" Aiyanna hears Tony holler through the speakers. "Ehehe, just a normal day in Los Angelos. Sorry that I'm not there, just, you know, duty calls!" More explosions are heard along with screechings of cars.

"Stark, what are you doing, taking your sweet time?!" Clint interrupts their conversation. Aiyanna blinks, a little surprised.

"Hi Clint!" She says cheerfully.

"Oh! Woah!" Clint exclaims, sounding surprised. "Erm good morning Aiyanna - HEY, BACK OFF THE QUIVER!" He yells. Aiyanna hears a few grunts and groans from him as he seems to fight off whatever is trying to attack him.

"Sorry Aiyanna kid, we're busy here!" Tony says apologetically through the speakers. "Just stick around in Stark Tower, don't get into trouble - GAH!" Scraping of metal is heard. Aiyanna cringes. She hates the sound of scraping metal… "Oof, think I broke a rib…" Tony wheezes.

"Are you okay?" Aiyanna asks alarmed, her heart beating faster.

"Yeah, yeah kid! Pepper's at work, and you can call her in at lunchtime - OOF!"

"Stark, head to the center of the city!" Steve's voice says, butting into the conversation.

"Aw shit - you didn't hear that from me - and you can always ask JARVIS for whatever ya need, he can probably cook or something - WOOOAAAHHHHH!"

Aiyanna flinches hearing some evil cackling in the background. "Tony, please please be okay when you come home! Please!"

Tony gives a chuckle. "I swear on it kid, I'm Iron freaking - AHHHHHHHHHHH!" The speaker is cut off, into static. Aiyanna by this point is breathing fast. Will Tony and the rest be okay? She can't bear the thought that they won't ever come back too.

"Ahem, so sorry for Mr. Stark's quick message," JARVIS says to Aiyanna. "Is there anything you require?"

Aiyanna shakes her head. "No thanks." Though her stomach grumbles - she hasn't eaten last night after the funeral - she didn't want to eat. Right now she feels _sick._ Sick from the thoughts that Tony and the rest might not come back and that she's all alone. Aiyanna suddenly feels angry. Why would they abandon her like this?

"Please Aiyanna," JARVIS says politely as possible. "You need to eat something. From my recordings, you have not eaten since last night. You need your energy," He insists.

"Okay." Aiyanna sighs. "I want chicken nuggets."

"Strange breakfast choice, but very well. Do you wish for me to phone Ms. Potts as well? She is not busy at the moment."

"Yeah please." Aiyanna says.

"A moment please," JARVIS says. Then, Aiyanna hears Pepper's voice comes on, smiling to herself when she sees the colors of honey yellow.

"Good morning Aiyanna," Pepper greets her. "I'm sorry you had to wake up with us gone - believe me, I'm stressed about Tony as well. I get so nervous when he's on a mission like this…" Her voice trails off. "Will you be okay by yourself? You can always come to my office." Aiyanna can hear the concern and worry in Pepper's voice.

"I'm not alone," She assures the woman. The little girl smiles to herself, when another person comes to mind. "I can always see Logan, right? He lives here, so I can see him!"

Pepper is silent for a moment. Aiyanna notices this around everyone in the Stark household. Everytime she brought up Logan, they always hesitated or ask, 'Are you sure?' As if Aiyanna were asking to see the boogeyman or something. Besides, she liked Logan just as much as she liked everyone else. "...You know what? Okay, you can see him. Just…" Pepper trails off. Aiyanna can sense the same hesitation that everyone else has when they come to the subject about Loki. It was weird.

"Just what?" Aiyanna questions.

"Nothing, nothing." Aiyanna frowns. Pepper clearly isn't telling her something. But oh well. At least she didn't make a big deal about seeing Logan like Tony and his friends did. "Just...have fun with him. I'll check in on you around lunch."

"Okay. Bye Pepper."

"Bye Aiyanna."

It ends there. "Aiyanna, your chicken nuggets are ready." JARVIS announces.

"Thanks JARVIS," Aiyanna says. _Ding! _Heat rises to her face.

"I transferred your food to you," JARVIS adds on.

"Oh, but I could've walked to the counter." Aiyanna frowns, suddenly feeling defensive. But she shrugs, and mindlessly chews the food. She hardly tastes it, looking forward to seeing Logan. Maybe he can tell her another one of his stories? In a few minutes, Aiyanna finishes her food. "JARVIS, I'm heading to Logan's floor," She announces. "Can you tell me what floor he's one?"

"Oh...Logan?" JARVIS questions. It's the first time that Aiyanna hears the computer sounding unsure. "I am not sure if Mr. Stark would like that…"

"Pepper said I could!"

"Hmm...alright then, level 66."

"Yay, thanks JARVIS." Aiyanna makes her way to where the elevator is.

* * *

The last thing that Loki expected was to receive a visit from the blind Midguardian child. "Hiya Logan!" Aiyanna greets him, plopping next to him on the couch.

"Oh...hello." Loki says uncertainly, closing the book '_Wicked_.' "What brings you here, Aiyanna?"

She shrugs, swinging her legs. "I'm just bored, and I don't want to be alone. Besides, Tony and the others are in Los Angelos fighting Doctor Doom or something." Loki wrinkles his nose when he hears her mention Doctor Doom. _Shoddy amatuer sorcerer…_ Loki thought to himself in annoyance. "Watcha doing?"

Loki looks down at his lap. "I'm reading."

"Watcha reading?"

"Wicked."

"What's that?" Aiyanna asks, cocking her head in curiosity.

"It's about a witch named Elphaba known as the Wicked Witch of the West. The whole book tells of her backstory and how she came to be." Loki explains.

"Are you talking about, 'The Wizard of Oz?' There's a book version of the movie? I didn't know that!"

Loki did not have the faintest idea what a 'movie' was. "Erm...yes?"

Aiyanna frowns. "That sounded like a question. Did you even see the movie?"

"...No."

"That's too bad! Seriously Logan, half of the stuff that I talk about, you seem to not hear about them. Hmmmm, and I don't remember there the Wicked Witch being called Elphaba! Can you read it out loud to me?" Aiyanna asks, tugging on Loki's sleeve. He quietly sighs to himself. He was just in the middle of the story and getting to the good parts...oh well. There's no harm in sharing the story. But he wasn't sure if the book was exactly, 'Midguardian-kid friendly...'

"Very well." Loki says, opening to page one. "Don't interrupt, alright? And...don't ask too much questions about the book."

Aiyanna nods eagerly, edging closer to Loki. Loki tolerated that, and started reading. "A mile before Oz, the Witch balanced on the wind's forward edge, as if she were a green fleck of the land itself…"

At first, all is well with reading - until Loki got onto the second page. "'She was castrated at birth,' replied the Tin Woodman calmly…" Loki mentally kicks himself. It's barely the second page, and there are already adult material popping up in the book. As Loki suspected, Aiyanna asked a question.

"Logan, what does castration mean?" She asks, innocently.

Loki bites his lip. He isn't the god of lies for nothing… "It means to be...burnt. Yes, castration means being burnt."

"Oh, that's really bad!"

_Oh, if you only knew more dear girl. _Loki thought in discomfort, as he crosses his legs. By the time he got to the fourth page, Aiyanna looked like she was about to fall asleep.

"This isn't like The Wizard of Oz," She gives out a yawn, stretching her arms. "Why is the Wicked Witch the main character? She's the villain."

Loki sighs, closing the book. Just as he suspected, the book was too adult. He bet that the girl hardly even registered half of the words he just read aloud. It was worth a shot though. "In time, dear girl. You may read it when you're older, such a young mind cannot grasp such abstract concepts."

Aiyanna pouts, crossing her arms. "I'm capable of understanding!" She says childishly. Loki can only crack a smile. Endearing.

"Well if you want to understand, I'll explain it. From what I know, this is a variation of the other popular children's book, 'The Wizard of Oz.' In those books, the Wicked Witch, Elphaba, is the villain, am I not correct?"

"There's a real book for The Wizard of Oz?" Aiyanna says, looking bewildered.

Loki sighs. "Well, in this book, in this author's version, he is writing the villain's side of the story…"

Aiyanna frowns. "Why would he want to do that? The Wicked Witch did horrible things. She's the bad guy," She says insistently.

"That maybe," Loki says, a little entertained by Aiyanna's childish perspective. "But have you ever thought about seeing a situation from another's?"

The little Midguardian pauses. "No."

"Exactly. The writer is exploring the Wicked Witch's side of the story. Because from either perspective, the hero or villain's, both of them are the 'good guys' of their own stories. Do you understand?"

A pondering look is on Aiyanna's face. "I...I never thought of it that way." She is silent for a moment. "Sometimes, I wonder why Loki killed my daddy." Loki freezes at the mention of his name. He looks carefully at Aiyanna in interest. He couldn't hold back the curiosity on what the mortal _thought_ of him… "I mean...what did he ever do to _him?_" Aiyanna's blind eyes start tearing up. She quickly wipes them. "My daddy never did anything wrong...he was the goodest greatest person I ever knew." She sniffles. "It's just not fair. I just hate it. I hate it so much. I hate Loki."

Loki is silent. "Hate is a strong word." He says quietly.

Aiyanna sniffles more. "So? I hate him. I _hate _him. I hope he dies. He's a horrible person."

Loki is silent even more. He smiles wryily to himself. Yes, yes, half of the things that the blind mortal said is true. He should die. He is a horrible person. But somehow, he didn't like hearing that from Aiyanna. He wanted somehow for her...to know _his_ side of the story. "Do you want me," He says. "To tell you a story?"

Aiyanna hugs her knees. "Okay. Yeah please."

"It is a story about...Loki." Aiyanna's face turns into a scowl, as she hugs her knees tighter. "Are you aware of Norse legends, Aiyanna?" Aiyanna shakes her head in answer. "Well, I'm going to tell you one." Aiyanna is still frowning, but is listening with interest.

"There was once a woman warrior named Sif. She used to have the most beautiful blonde tresses that seemed to be made of gold itself. She treasured it with all of her heart, proud of her golden hair. That is until," Loki's head plays out the memories. He was telling this from experience. He feels his heart beat faster as retells the tale. His nails are digging into his palms, his forehead sweating. Why must he recounter the experience…? But Loki goes on.

"One day, she woke up completely bald." Aiyanna giggles at this. Loki cracks a small smile. "It is a very funny image, yes. But Sif's rage was unholy." Loki felt himself breathing faster. "She immediately accused the younger son of Odin, Loki, to be the one who committed the atrocity. Though Loki was the master of tricks and pranks, he did not cut Sif's locks."

"Then who did?" Aiyanna questions, her eyes wide. She is getting immersed into the story.

"Nobody knows. And nobody ever found out. But, everyone believed her, even though Loki did nothing." His palms are wet. Loki glances down, seeing blood trickling out. He absent mindedly continued the tale. "The Allfather, Odin, decreed that Sif can do whatever she pleased with Loki. Sif, Thor, and their other friends, decided that they were to strap and stitch his mouth, and leave him out in the gardens of Asgard for seven days."

Loki squeezes his eyes shut. He remembered that Thor just watched laughing from the sides as the Three Warriors strapped him down. Sif did the stitching. A joke, that's what they treated his punishment as. No matter how much he screamed his innocence, no matter how much he begged his father and brother to be heard, they all _laughed. _They just said, 'Well, it serves to show that you are not to insult Sif!' And they just watched his _suffering. _

"And that's exactly what they did." Loki now feels blood drawing out of his lips from biting it so hard.

A puzzled and horrified expression is on Aiyanna's face. "But...he didn't do anything!"

"Exactly." Loki shrugged. "They immediately assumed that since Loki was the God of Mischief and lies, that he cut Sif's hair. But he didn't. And nobody believed him," Loki says softly, shaking in bitter anger. "Nobody ever believed him…"

Aiyanna is quiet. "Is that why he's so bad? Is that why he killed my daddy?" She whispers.

Loki smiles sadly. "Well, I doubt that one event would cause Loki's behavior to change so drastically from one course of event. But of course, there is a saying: People are molded into who they are from those around them." Loki pauses. He now feels the burning stings of his wounds.

"...That's not a good punishment. Even if Loki did cut Sif's hair, it doesn't mean that he had to have his mouth stitched." Aiyanna comments. "I don't know if it's a good or bad thing, but I feel really bad for Loki. He didn't deserve that. Maybe that's why he became such a horrible person."

"So you see the perspectives. That is Loki's perspective of the legend." Loki says, leaning back. "If you read the written legends, they make it seem as if Loki deserved it - that Sif and Thor were the heroes of the story." Bitterness awashed him. Even in legends, Loki was considered the monster, the _villain. _

"Wait, Thor? Is the Thor we have the real Thor?" Aiyanna asks in awe.

"Indeed."

Aiyanna makes an angry face. "I'm going to scold him for doing such a horrible thing to his brother." Loki bursts out laughing. "What's so funny?'

"Ah, nothing. That is very sweet, Aiyanna." He says genuinely.

Aiyanna blushes, smiling bashfully. "Teehee, thanks. But, but…" Aiyanna trails off. "Even if Loki went through really terrible things, I'll never ever forgive him." She says darkly. "Because killing my daddy is the baddest thing of all."

"Yes," Loki agrees, his heart heavy for some reason. Why does he feel this way? "Though he did went through terrible things, his actions are certainly not justified."

"What does justified mean?" Aiyanna asks, blinking.

Loki chuckles, remembering the how young Aiyanna was. "It means 'to be right.'"

"Oh. Well, yeah, his actions aren't justified." Aiyanna says, smiling. She looked proud to be using a new word.

The Asguardian gives a soft smile. He would've ruffled Aiyanna's hair, but his hands are covered in blood...but he has to say, the little Midguardian was not bad company.


	11. To Be Questioning

person D: But Loki-Aiyanna-Loki? Gah! Stop messing with my emotions so! I'm trying really hard not to like Loki, I am! I know that this whole thing is going to blow up, and I don't want to be too attached when it does, but you! Gah! You're making it difficult! My conflicting emotions are making me love this story more, and I'm not certain as to whether that's good or bad! Please make my unease worthwhile, please! I can only take so many feels before I break and become an undignified mess of fangirl. This has to have a happy ending!

**Hehehe...well...it's really hard NOT to like Loki. XD This is why I'm making it harder for everyone - the art of making character relationships develop. I just love it. Then I smash it with a hammer thus shattering the readers' faith and love for the character relationship. Man, I am a sadist. So you want a happy ending? Well...it really depends on what I feel. *evil smile***

Moonstruck625:HOLY SHMOOZ! That. Was. ADORABLE! So much love! In starting to get a huge case of the feels from all this fluff. (And Steve isn't an idiot, he's just a little clueless :D)

**Yeah, I was feeling kinda fluffy last chapter, so I decided to put some fluff. That's what happens when I'm in a good mood, there are fluffy chapters. :3 Tell that to Tony Stark that Steve isn't an idiot. XD**

Littlemonster19:Sooooo sweet! I can't wait to read more! Send help I fallen from all the feels!

**Don't worry. I am a professional Feel Doctor. It is my speciality. You madam, must have a prescription of angst. Haha. ANGST. (If I don't make any sense, sorry. I'm just complicated like that. XD)**

fan-de-carlisle-cullen:I wonder what the others will say when they review the footage.

I think Loki makes a much better father figure than Tony: not only does he spend time with Aiyanna doing things she likes but he also gives her pieces of wisdom. Tony seems to rely to much on JARVIS and Pepper.

Besides it is fitting: Loki killed the father in a moment of rage and he now has to take his place in a way.

**You have a very interesting outlook on the situation. I'm glad that you see it that way, because that's exactly what I want you readers to see it. Though Tony wants to be a father, well, he won't be a GOOD father at first. That's why I looovvveeee writing character development. It's also interesting that you see Loki as a father surrogate for Aiyanna. I don't see him that way for her, I rather see him as an older brother. X) But it's really up to others' interpretations. **

.9:It's so sad and sweet! The last line made my day! XD

**I kno. X) I am lovin' to write these Loki and Aiyanna scenes. BOOOooonnnddddiiinnnggggggg. **

CausticCottonballs:WHY CAN'T I HOLD ALL THESE FEELS

**Like I said, I'm a Feel Doctor. You need to read angst theme chapters stat. (Hinthint for this chapter)**

leebee14: Awwwww the feelsT-T

**Feels indeed.**

Guest: :Awe! So adorable :3

Is that actually a thing that happened? With sifs hair?! Shouldent he have like scars in his lips or something... Or does he heal? That's a mean thing to do :( ... I'm taking this too seriously again aren't i...

Oh gosh, Arianna is going to use castrated later on into the story isent she? XD

**Well yes, in Norse legends Loki actually cut Sif's hair...but in this fic, I thought that I should flip it in his version. Since he's an Asguardian, if he were injured, I suspect that his scars would've been healed and lone gone by now. ...And did you read my mind about Aiyanna using the word castration?! Sorcery! e_e**

queenlmno: Why are his hands covered in blood?

**While telling the legend to Aiyanna, Loki clenched his hands so hard that he cut himself. Just re-read the last chapter, you'll see it. ;)**

* * *

"**Why do people have to die? Why can't we just live forever?"**

**- **_**Quote from a child whose parents passed**_

* * *

**~Chapter Eleven~**

Doctor Doom was quite the formidable opponent, Tony had to admit. Hell, he was like another version of Loki, minus the god powers and multiply the egocentricity by ten. Plus, he happened to be a genius at science _and_ a maniac user of magic. Whoopeedee. Honestly, Tony had enough of the "magic" crap, why can't there be a supervillain that plays honestly without defying the laws of physics? Foul play is what he would call it.

Although the Avengers managed to hold off Doctor Doom's attempted hostage raid of Los Angelos, the crazed supervillain got away. And the Avengers were beaten up pretty badly.

Clint broke his leg, Natasha sprained her ankle and broke her arm, Steve has a nasty concussion, Thor has a bunch of cuts and bruises, and both Bruce and Tony received some pretty bad burns from the fight. Not to mention, Doctor Doom caused some bad dents in Tony's suit was almost wrecked (once again, back to the workshop).

"Oh my god, Tony!" Is the first thing that Pepper says when she sees the injured Avengers arrive back at Stark Tower. "What happened to all of you?"

"Two words: Doctor Doom." Tony says, wincing when he feels the stings of his burns.

"Let me get the first aid kit. Why aren't you guys at the hospital or something?" Pepper says, rushing over to a cabinet.

"Oh c'mon, we're too lazy, not to mention injured, to walk back to the damn hospital Peps!" Tony moans, collasping on the couch along with the other Avengers. Though Thor is looking better, most of his cuts and bruises had disappeared. Tony pouts at this. Sometimes he wishes that he has a regenerative healing factor or whatever Asguardians have.

"Мне нужно чертовы обезболивающие…" Natasha mutters off to the side, wincing at her injuries. Clint rubs Natasha's back, though she hisses angrily at him in which he immediately backs off. Steve moans in pain, mumbling if someone can turn on the radio for the 'Abbott and Costello' program, a popular 1940's radio show. Bruce is sweating thoroughly, his face clenched in pain.

Thor seemed better, so he walks up to Pepper. "I think I am faring better. Lady Pepper, how may I be of service?" Thor asks the woman politely.

"Okay, uhm, take a washcloth, rinse it in cold water, put some ice cubes in it, and give it to Steve for his concussion." Pepper says to Thor, getting out some gauze, rags, and painkillers.

Thor nods. "Right away Lady Pepper."

"I seeeee the l-light! Is it baaad that I see...the liiiight?" Steve suddenly cries out suddenly, blinking rapidly. His head is rolled back, as he stares at the ceiling with wide eyes and an open, hanging mouth. Tony manages to snicker despite the pain of the burns.

"Hehe, Stevie, do us a favor and go towards it!" He snorts.

Steve frowns at Tony. "Verrry funny H-Howard…" He says, slurred. Although Tony knows that Steve was pretty knocked up in the head badly, he couldn't help but cringe when he was called by his father's name. He noticed the absence of Aiyanna.

"Hey, Peps, where's the little squirt?" Tony asks, as Pepper rinses his arm in a bowl of cold water. He catches the guilty look across her face, as she drapes a soaked washcloth over a burn on his leg. "Pepper, is there something up? What, did Aiyanna happen to get lost in Stark Tower?" He says half-jokingly.

"Hhhhmm, not exactly." Pepper replies, biting her lip. "You see, I let her spend the whole day with...Loki."

Tony nearly knocked over the bowl in shock. The other injured Avengers glance over, with curiosity and surprise. Clint scowls at this news. "Really Pepper? No offense, but I wouldn't leave anybody with that nut for a minute."

Pepper gives them all a defensive look. "What? I was at work, and Aiyanna was lonely so...I let her spend the day with Loki. He's not _that_ bad…" Pepper trails off, as she washes more water over Tony's burns.

"Are you going to let Aiyanna spend all of her time with Loki?" Bruce says with a raised eyebrow. "She still doesn't know, does she? In my opinion, you shouldn't let her get so attached…" He says quietly, trailing off.

"See! See what I mean? At least _somebody _sees the direness of the situation!" Clint exclaims, throwing up his arms.

Pepper casts both of them a guilty look. "But you should've seen them. You see, I kinda sorta watch them through surveillance." Pepper gives a sheepish smile.

Tony gives a teasing smirk. "Stalker alert, here we have, a stalker alert."

"Shush!" Pepper retaliates, splashing some water on Tony's face.

"Tell me, Lady Pepper," Thor suddenly says, as he presses some wet washcloth on Bruce's burns as well. "How does Loki...act towards the little girl?"

Pepper breathes out, a look of amazement on her face. She dabs a burn on Tony's knee carefully with precision. "He read her a story, he told her legends about your past…" Pepper stops when she says that, measuring Thor's reaction.

"Are you sure this is Loki we're talking about? Because he sounds like some kind of babysitter rather than an intergalatic terrorist." Clint snides off to the side.

Thor ignores this comment. "What do you mean he told her legends about our past?"

"Well…"

"Tony, Tony, you're back!" Aiyanna voice suddenly rings out. The grown-ups immediately shut up, as Aiyanna enters the room. She walks over to the couch where all of the Avengers are seated, a wide smile on her face. "You kept your promise Tony!"

"Heck right I did." He ruffles her hair, and hisses in pain when he moved his arm. Damn these burns…

Aiyanna's eyes widen. "Are you hurt? I smell blood." Her lip quivers.

Pepper pats her arm. "Tony and his friends got some bad injuries, but they're all going to be just fine."

"What if one of them dies from their injuries?" Aiyanna questions fearfully.

Tony and Pepper glance over to each other. "I'm not gonna die from some burns kiddo. It'll take plenty of more for someone to kill me rather than some burns." Tony says, putting an arm around Aiyanna.

Her face is twisted into discomfort. "It must hurt when you get castrated, right?"

"WHAT?!" All at once the Avengers and Pepper reacted. Thor dropped the cowl of water he was holding. Pepper also dropped the washcloth she was holding, her mouth agape in horror. Tony really knocked over the bowl of water this time, the water landing on Bruce. Bruce was once again too shock to even react. Steve rolled off the couch in complete and utter shock. Natasha's is making a tight lipped expression that she makes when Clint tries to tell her a joke. Clint did a spit take.

"What? Did I say something wrong?" Aiyanna asks, glancing around. Her face is set in an innocent expression.

"Aiyanna...where did you learn the word 'castration' from?" Tony says, the words hard to come out of his mouth.

Aiyanna shrugs, clearly not seeing the big deal. "I learnt it from Logan. He said that it means to get burnt. He read it from the book, 'Wicked.' That book was pretty cool, can I get one?" Tony and the others are silent. "Guys?"

"LOOGGGGAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNN!" Tony bellows. It was almost as loud as Thor when he screams. The light bulbs hanging above shake. The Avengers, Aiyanna, and Pepper only stare at him dubiously. He breathes out, once again regaining his composure. "Sorry. I just really needed to let that out." He states.

Steve groans in pain from the floor. "Can anybody help me up?" Thor obilges, flipping him back on the couch with one hand. Steve makes some kind of wheezing choking sound from the sudden movement, his eyes bulging out of his head.

"I swear, I'm gonna castrate that sonofa-"

"Don't castrate Logan, he didn't do anything wrong!" Aiyanna says in defense. Clint only burst out laughing from the sides, clearly entertained by this. Tony glares at the master archer.

"Ehm, of course I'm not gonna castrate him Aiyanna. It's just - castrate doesn't mean being burnt."

"Then what does it mean?"

Tony glances up at his friends and Pepper helplessly. Natasha and Clint both smirk, shaking their heads slightly as if saying, '_Not our problem.'_ Steve is absolutely red in the face and looks like he's on the verge of fainting. Bruce is staring up at the ceiling, whistling as if he weren't hearing their conversation. Pepper is biting her nails, not sure what to do herself. Tony gives all of his friends the stink eyes. What great reliable team mates he has…

"Castration means to cut one's genitals off," Thor suddenly says, answering Aiyanna's question. Tony does a double take, including everyone else. Leave it to the Norse, erm, Asguardian, eh, whatever he is (at this point, Tony had no idea what to refer Thor as), to handle this awkward situation.

Aiyanna makes a curious expression. "What are genitals?"

Thor opens his mouth, probably about to say the definition of it, when Tony tackles him despite his injuries to cover his mouth. "MmmmmMMMPH!" Thor cries out, muffled. He thrashes in retaliation, throwing Tony off him. He crashes on the table, shattering the poor furniture. Aiyanna gives a short scream, the other Avengers giving shouts of surprise.

"I'm okay, I'm okay - gah!" Tony struggles to sit up.

Thor glares down at Tony. "Do not invade my personal space, Man of Iron, unless you wish to brawl."

"Dude, what is your _problem?_" Tony shots back, and gives back another groan. The whole world is spinning.

"You big meanie, you hurt Tony!" Aiyanna yells, angered.

Thor looks a little regretful. "I am sorry Lady Aiyanna-"

"Meanie!" She jumps up to her feet and swings her little foot up. Thor stares down at Aiyanna, hardly affected by her little punches and kicks. Most of her punches and kicks miss Thor, given the fact she couldn't actually see him. She gives another kick to his shin. "That was for watching Loki when his mouth was getting stitch you MEANIE!" She exclaims. The little girl ends up getting strange looks from the Avengers. Thor is speechless what Aiyanna said the last part.

Tony quickly interrupts before Thor could say anything else. "Okay, settle down tiger," Tony laughs, as Pepper helps him to his feet. "It's okay, Thor here can play rough sometimes, don't you buddy?" He slaps his arms.

Thor gives him an unamused stare. "Is this jesting?"

"Sure, why not?" Tony rolls his eyes.

Aiyanna goes back on the couch, and hugs her knees. "Can you guys promise to never go into a fight Doctor Doom or some other supervillain again?" She asks in a low voice.

The adults look at each other, a little guilty. Tony runs his hand through his head, looking sorry. "...I can't promise that kiddo."

"It's part of our job." Bruce adds on. "Unless you want crazed meglomaniacs to go loose in the world, we have to be there to stop them."

Aiyanna pouts. "...Promise me you guys will never die."

"..." At this point, the Avengers and Pepper got so quiet, that a pin needle can drop and it can heard.

"We can't promise that either." Natasha finally says. "Death is apart of life. Sometimes, you just have to deal with it."

Aiyanna's black hair covers her eyes.

"Hey, don't worry!" Tony says quickly. "We're pretty damn hard to kill!" Pepper punches his arm for the use of a swear word. _But 'damn' isn't even a swear word!_ Tony thought to himself, but shrugs this off. Aiyanna's face is still set in uncertainty, not looking thoroughly convinced. "Besides, if I do die, I promise that I'll turn into a ghost then watch you while you sleep so that you'll be a good girl when I'm gone!" Tony says jokingly. The Avengers and Pepper just stare at him with a _Really?_ look.

Aiyanna looks horrified. "TONY!" She cries out, her face scrunching up. "Why are you so mean?" Tony couldn't help but laugh. Not out of taking pleasure of Aiyanna's grief, but out of her childish innocence. It was kinda cute. Tears spill out on to her cheeks. "Why can't you guys just not die? Why can't you promise?"

"We can't promise." Pepper smiles sadly.

"Why do people _have_ to die? Why can't we just live forever?" Aiyanna says stubbournly through tears.

"Well wouldn't that be boring as hell?" Clint says, saying something for the first time much to everyone's surprise. "If everyone can live forever, well, that would just make life not _life._" He shrugs. "Plus we'll overpopulate the Earth and all that jack, so, living forever is probably not a good thing."

"Never knew you were philosphical Clint." Natasha comments, looking surprised.

Aiyanna sniffles. "I guess so. But...it's just not fair."

"We know that kid. We all know that." Tony says seriously. Everyone is quiet for a moment. "But always remember that I'll turn into a ghost if I do die and I'll haunt you with my annoying side comments for the rest of your days!" Tony couldn't help but tease.

"TONY!" Aiyanna shouts, though a smile is breaking on her face.

* * *

**A/N: Hmm, this chapter is shorter than the rest. Oh well. No Loki in this chapter. *le gasp* I know. Prepostrous. What, the guy needs a break from the story! Besides, I felt that development was needed between the Avengers and Aiyanna. Don't worry, there might be some next chapter. ;)**


	12. To Be Realizing

Lady Syndra: Lol ghost Tony would be quite creepy!

I'm surprised the others didn't pick up on how she knew Loki got stitched up…

**Not to mention, ghost Tony would be quite annoying. XD I think the others did figure it out, but didn't care to comment. *shrugs***

TheOneAndOnlyGoddessofAwesome: YOU ARE SO AWESOME OH MY GOD SERIOUSLY it was so awesome when Thor was like: it means to cut one's genitals off. Lol! And the other stuff was so awesome I love you

**Thank you! I figured that Thor would not see why the others are making such a big deal about it, given that Asguardians can be quite violent. XD **

fan-de-carlisle-cullen: That was so funny. Especially Aiyanna wrestling Thor.

I think Loki is old enough to be Tony's ancestor, so he fits more as a father surrogate than as a brother.

And I can't wait to hear the castration conversation between Tony and Loki.

**I know, Aiyanna is so cute when she's angry! X3 I'm sorry to say that I won't write Tony's conversation to Loki, though he will bring it up. **

queenImno: Poor Aiyanna. She is so incoccent.

***sighs* And so ignorant...all the more tragic. **

caramelkitkat: You need a ' Thor and potarts ' momento XD

**Really? You think so? Hmm, I'll take that into consideration. ;)**

.9: This chapter was so fun! Poor Steve, was completely forgotten! XD I think Loki is in trouble now. (I hate Thor, he is such a hypocrite :P)

**HA, I know, I just dropped Steve's existence last chapter. XD **

leebee14: Hehe.

Ja Ne

'**Hehe' indeed. **

.5454: OMG! I was dying laughing :') ahaha!

your an awesome writer BTW

**Thank you, I'm so flattered! :D Hope you keep on reading!**

* * *

**Family is not an important thing. It's everything.**

_**Michael J. Fox**_

* * *

**~Chapter Eleven~**

For a long time, Tony wasn't able to sleep ever since the Battle of New York. Diagnosed with acute insomnia, post traumatic disorder, and anxiety by his therapist. Because of all these mental conditions, he had trouble sleeping. Not that he liked sleeping anymore. Sleeping too long, he would get nightmares, as much as he hated to address it. Los Angelos's attack from Doctor Doom was a dear reminder to Tony that there is still danger in the world set out to destroy.

After the Chitauri invasion, he is confronted with the plain fact that there is life beyond Earth - whole other alien races that are freaking _superior_ to humans in every way possible and can squash the entire human race if they felt like it. Tony had no idea how he could protect Pepper from that. And now Aiyanna enters his life. _Two_ important things in his life he has to worry about now.

Here he is again, still awake at one in the morning. That's not good for his health. Though that was pretty much the last thing on his mind. Tony was extremely troubled after his conversation with Aiyanna, as he lays awake in bed. Besides him are a sleeping Pepper and Aiyanna. The kid still couldn't sleep on her own, with her fits of nightmares and accidents.

"_Why do people have to die? Why can't we just live on forever?"_

_"Tony, please please be okay when you come home! Please!"_

"_Promise me that you'll never die."_

Aiyanna's words echo in Tony's mind. It repeatedly stabs into his mind, like a reminder. Hell, sometimes Tony needs to be smacked with the reminder that he wasn't some sort of superhuman or god. Without the suit, though he is a genius billionaire playboy philanthropist CEO, he's a normal human, plain and simple. He can die, he can get hurt, all of that jazz. It was something unavoidable.

_"Most of all, Iron Man. What if it were to happen if a mission of yours goes wrong? If you don't make it through the job?" _

_"You will once again leave the child fatherless. This is a serious matter that we're going over."_

Tony feels his stomach churn when he remembers Ms. Cranston's words, the social services lady. Once again, another valid point and reminder. Tony looks closely at Pepper and Aiyanna. '_How can I protect these two? After seeing that there are things out there that average humans can't comprehend or can even fight against, am I really capable of protecting those I love most?'_ Tony sits up.

He hated the feeling of doing _nothing_ when he felt so helpless and confused. Something needs to be done. He needs to take action.

Tony quietly tiptoes out of the room. "Sir, what are you doing out in this ungodly time of hour? Is it that you can't sleep?" JARVIS suddenly asks, a touch of concern in his voice.

"JARVIS. Deliver some coffee to the workshop, stat."

"What are you going to do, sir?"

"Workshopping." Tony replies, and goes inside the room.

* * *

Pepper woke up, surprised that Tony was gone from bed already, though Aiyanna is still sleeping soundly. A worried though flashes across her mind: _Is he out fighting some other supervillain or invasion?_ However, her thoughts are immediately appeased when she hears loud ruckus coming from the workshop. _What is he doing there in the morning? _She quietly gets out of bed, careful not to disturb Aiyanna, and walks towards the workshop. As she walks, she hears the faint lyrics of Tony's favorite song, 'Shoot to Thrill.' Pepper leans against the door, and raps it lightly.

_WHIIIRRRRRRRRRRR!_

"Tony? What the heck are you doing in there?" Pepper calls out, quickly drawing back her head. She waits a minute for him to answer, but only continues to hear the sounds of banging, the yelling of Tony, and music. Now impatient, Pepper swings the door open. "Tony Stark, just tell me what the hell are you doing?" She says, barging in.

The loud sound of a drill quickly interrupts to Pepper. She sees Tony with a metal mask over his face, a power drill in his hand. A strange metal exoskeleton of what is supposed to be an iron suit is on a table, as Tony drills into it. Pepper sighs to herself. She knows how Tony gets when he's working on a _project. _She promptly walks over to the boombox, and turns it off.

This finally got the genius's attention. He throws off his metal mask and yells, "Hey, who turned off my jam?! Oh, Pepper. G'morning." Before he had a chance to put the mask back on and continue working on the new suit, Pepper grabs him by the shoulders.

"Tony, what's this? Why are you making a new suit?" She asks, confused, picking up a metal scrap. Tony gently pulls it from her hands.

"Improving." He replies, his eyes edging over to some blueprints.

Pepper sighs once again. Looks like she has to be a fill on for Stark Corporations once again while Tony is working on a project. "How long are you going to be working on this?"

Tony grabs a mug of coffee, taking in a suit. From the look on his face, he clearly relishes tasting the drink. Pepper now notices the disheveled appearance that he puts on. His hair is sticking wildly out of place and there are dark circles under his eyes. "Anthony Stark," Pepper suddenly says, using his real name.

He gives a lopsided smile. "Uh-oh, full use of name."

Pepper doesn't smile back. "How long were you up?"

"C'mon Peps, that's _besides_ the point, just go eat breakfast and fill in for the company again-"

"Fill in for the company?" Pepper gives him an incredulous look. "And here I was just about to treat myself to the spa," She says half-jokingly. What? She really was looking forward to the spa appointment...

Tony shrugs, giving a heartless smile. "Well, that spa appointment would have to wait…" His smile disappears when he sees the pursed expectant look of Pepper. He sighs, the tiredness finally showing on his face. He runs his hand over his face. "Probably nine hours. Up since one. That's the power of caffeine. Yahoo." He mutters, waving a mug half-heartedly.

Pepper feels her mouth drop open. "Tony, that's not healthy! You can do plenty of things, but you can't stay up twenty-four hours. I command you to go to bed _right now_."

"Sorry Sergeant Pepper, I have to disobey your commands," Tony says with a light, weary chuckle. He receives another displeased look. "I...I can't Peps, I can't." Tony says, running his hand through his hair. Pepper frowns at this.

"Why not?"

"This-this is important. I _need_ to this." Tony turns his back from her, grabbing some blueprints. "Just go eat and don't stress over me. I need to work."

Pepper could only gape at his back with an indignant stare. Why was he suddenly _acting_ like this? She remembered before they were in a relationship, Tony was obsessed with his work all of the time. Back then he would pretty much shut everyone out and was just plain distant. All she can hope is that Tony can get over this little project is soon - and give him the silent treatment of his life. Just as she was about to exit the room, Aiyanna appears at the doorway. She yawns.

"Good morning guys!" Aiyanna clicks her tongue, and walks into the room. Pepper smiles at Aiyanna, giving her a quick peck on the forehead.

"Morning sweet."

Aiyanna manages to grasp Pepper's hand, and looks over to Tony's direction where he's using his power drill on the new iron suit in process. "Hi Tony!"

Tony glances up, giving a short wave. "Morning to you kiddo." He shortly goes back to working on the suit. Pepper could only give off her best glares at her boyfriend.

"Tony, you said yesterday that the Daredevil comics were shipped here. Are we gonna read them together?" Aiyanna asks, a hopeful look on her face. Pepper eyes Tony closely. He won't just…?

Tony gives out a sigh, realization coming on his face. He looks up to the ceiling, giving out a little groan. "Kid, I can't, I'm too busy today."

Aiyanna frowns. "Do you have to fight crime again?"

"Not _exactly…"_

"Then why can't you read Daredevil with me?" Aiyanna says, an accusing tone in her voice.

"I just can't kid, working is my priority right now. A little more important than reading some comics..."

"..." Aiyanna is silent at first. Pepper could only shake her head at Tony. "My daddy would've read the comics with me." Aiyanna states, her words clipped and cold. She runs out of the room. Tony looks off, his mouth open.

"What? What the hell did I do wrong?" He asks, flabbergasted.

Pepper gives him the stink eye. "What do you think?" Is all she said, before she walks out of the acursed workshop.

* * *

Pepper catches up with Aiyanna in the living room. A fuming look is on the child's face. Her hands are bunched up into little fists, her arms crossed tightly against her chest, and a frown on her face. She leads Aiyanna to the couch, not saying anything at first. She lets her hand linger on her shoulder, as she rubs it. "I'm sorry for that Aiyanna. Tony can just be - _inconsistent_ like that." She says apologetically.

Aiyanna puts her head against Pepper. "Is he gonna be like this all of the time?" She asks, fiddling with her fingers.

The blonde freezes at this question. _Will he be like this all of the time?_ It dawns upon Pepper. She may be used to it, but she sometimes has to remember that others are not. "He's trying his best." Pepper finally says in a firm voice. She knows that Tony could be a screw up sometimes, but she still has to stand by his side and try her best to understand him. He certainly didn't hurt Aiyanna's feelings on purpose. That's just...insensitive Tony. She pulls Aiyanna into a hug. "Tony does things for a reason - and I'm sure he's doing his 'work' for a good reason. And even though he'll be unpredictable or upstraight insensitive at times, you'll get used to it. I guarantee it. Because that's what makes Tony Stark somewhat loveable."

"Somewhat?"

"Somewhat." Pepper smiles. Aiyanna only gives out a little sigh. "Sweet, he's trying to be a parent - he won't be a _great_ parent at first, but he'll be a parent. Your parent. And that's all what matters. Besides, he's going way out of his comfort zone by deciding to take you in. This is pretty much the most considerate he has been for someone else rather than me in years." Aiyanna glances up in surprise.

"Really?"

"Really." Pepper repeats, squeezing her hand.

Aiyanna squeezes back. "I bet that you can't read Daredevil with me after breakfast." She says sadly. "You have to go to work again."

"I do." Pepper agrees sadly as well.

"Does that mean that I can see Logan? He can read it out to me."

Pepper pauses. All she thought was, _Why the heck not? _"Sure hon."

Aiyanna smiles in gladness. "Thanks mommy." The word slips from Aiyanna's mouth, as if she called Pepper that all of her life.

This goes unnoticed by Pepper at first. "No problem sweetie." Pepper blinks. _Wait, 'mommy?' She said mommy? I'm mommy?_ She thought stunned. The way Aiyanna said it - it sounded so _natural. _Like she was fit for the name. In a daze, Pepper blinks. She doesn't even question this. It just felt _right. _Then, she pulls Aiyanna into a tight hug and kisses her on the cheek. "I love you sweetheart."

Aiyanna blinks. Then a smile blooms on her face. "I love you too mommy."

* * *

The first thing that Loki sees when he opens his eyes is Aiyanna. She is perched upon the couch, staring down at him with an innocent little smile. Which kinda scared the crap out of him. "Bloody hell!" He yells, rolling off the couch in surprise. Aiyanna frowns down at him.

"Logan, you used a curse word, not good." She wags a little finger.

Loki blinks, and sits up. "Child, _what_ are you doing in my quarters?"

Aiyanna cocks her head, giggling. "You use funny words Logan. You were sleeping on the couch when I came in." She holds up some books. "We can read together! We can read Daredevil! Have you ever heard of him? He's a really cool superhero."

Loki rubs the back of his neck. Really, _why_ does he put up with this? He could always say _no. _Besides, why isn't that insolent Tony Stark doing his job as a parent? There certainly isn't any other supervillain that's set out to take over the world, so why not take the time to be with the child? "Can you not read the book with Tony Stark?" Loki asks, standing back to his feet.

Aiyanna's face turns into a scowl. She crosses her arms. "He's doing some dumb bunny work in his lab or something. He says that he doesn't have time to read Daredevil with me." Her eyes are looking down at the book in her lap. Her hands run repeatedly over the covers, back to back. "I don't understand. I thought that he'll take care of me. Daddy would always read comic books to me when he was…" Aiyanna goes quiet. Tears are suddenly dripping from her face. "I want my daddy…" She says barely above a whisper.

Loki is frozen by this point. _Goddamn_ by the Allfather, he felt so...out of place. What the hell can he do in this situation? Midguardian emotions are so jumbled and complicated to Loki. Asguardians' way in emotions in their culture, is to cover it up - crying or showing mercy is a sign of weakness in the culture. Though a little voice in his head whispers to him that Midguardian and Asguardian emotions are not quite so different.

All Loki could command himself to do was sit next to Aiyanna and quietly listen to what she had to say. She talked of her dear father about the times when he was alive. When he would play this Midguardian song called 'Footloose' when they were feeling sad or scared, when he would read books out loud to Aiyanna to rock her to sleep, when he would tell her stories and legends of Midguardian culture…

The way Aiyanna put it, her father sounded like a saint. A good man. This sends a little jabbing feeling in Loki's chest. Come to think of it, he doesn't actually know anything about those he killed when he came to Midgard...Now getting to know them through the stories and experiences that the left behind loved ones of his victims have, Loki realized in that moment that they were _people. _Not Midguardians or inferiors - but _people. _

People who had dreams, aspirations, personalities, lovers, and family - things that Asguardians have as well - Loki realized that for the first time that Midguardians were _equals. _They were beings with morals just as Asguardians have it - and that's how it all came crashing upon him in a an instance.

He puts a hand to his head. He is a screw up.

"Hey Logan?" Loki is snapped out of his thoughts.

"What is it Little One?"

"...Do you think if I'm extra good, daddy will come back?" Aiyanna whispers, fingering the book.

Loki is silent. Though he is the God of Lies for _once_ he has to tell the truth. For the little Midguardian's sake. "No." Loki simply says. "It won't." He thought about saying a 'I'm sorry,' but that would just be giving pity to the girl. She doesn't need pity - she just needs the reality. Being sorry wouldn't change anything.

More tears fall from her face, as she looks down. "Do you believe in God, Logan?"

Loki is once again silent. Once again he is faced with the realization of how little he knew of Midguardian culture and religion. For Odin's sake, what was on his mind when he wanted to take over a planet, but he barely knew anything about the inhabitants? So clever. Not. "I am not sure. Truth be told, I do not even know who He is." Loki manages to answer truthfully.

"Oh. Well he supposed to be this guy that makes a lot of good things happen. He created the world, He created life, and He lives in the clouds where Heaven is, a place where good people go. And He's really powerful." Aiyanna explains. Loki wondered if such a being existed. "...If He makes good things happen, why did He have to make daddy die? It's so unfair." Aiyanna says with clenched fists. "He's no fair."

Loki had no idea what to say to this. He didn't want to ruin the child's view on whatever religion she has…once again, all he could do is listen.

"I hope that my daddy's in Heaven." Aiyanna says quietly. "He deserves to be there. He was a good person."

"I'm sure he was." Loki says.

Another silence.

"Why can't Tony be like daddy?" Aiyanna mumbles under her breath.

Loki could not bring himself to say anything to that.

* * *

**A/N: Issssuuuuuesssss. Character development. All that good stuff. Gotta love that.** **Don't hate on Tony peeps. I realize the guy still has to face some issues before he becomes a ****_good_**** parent to Aiyanna. He won't be a ****_good_**** parent at first like Pepper said, but he's being a parent. You notice that there will be some Iron Man 3 references through out the fic. Reviews please!**


	13. To Be Angry

mezzieb1: Awww! Love the kid and Loki scene... Tony can be a huge a$$! Love it cannot wait for the next chapter!

**Aw, give Tony some dice. I COULD make him meaner… *smiles evilly* But we'll see what we shall see.**

leebee14:Awwwwww

**Quite so. **

Lady Syndra:Looking forward to the next chapter!

**Cool! Here ya go!**

Moonstruck625:...Wow... that was great! Loki fluff is making me shiver in feels, why must you do this to me, to most of your readers?! BTW the mommy part was adorable! 3 (sorry I didn't review last chapter my lap top died and I never got around to it ): )

**Thank you! There is more to come! **

fan-de-carlisle-cullen:This was quite sad. I bet Loki had tears in his eyes by the end. And I like that Aiyanna goes to him for counsel.

Tony's always been a jerk. With a heart of gold, yes, but he remains a first-category jerk. Maybe if Loki lectures him about it, he'd change. :)

**You said it. I'm glad that you understand Tony - he wasn't my favorite Avenger, or one that I paid attention too (I'm mostly obssessed with the Thor films) but I noticed that I needed to know more about him. So I watched his movies and got a good input of his personality, and realized that having his own flaws, he wouldn't be quite 'Dad of The Year' yet. **

.5454:I hope this story never ends! but like they say all good things must come to an end. :)

**Touché. Touché indeed my friend. :) Looks like the student is now the teacher. *bows sensei style***

.9:I understand Tony though. He's trying to be a good father, but is not as easy as it sounds. And Aiyanna, calling Pepper of mommy was one of the cutest things in this story! :) Soo cuddly! Aiyanna talking about God was a intense thing for me (I am an atheist.) * - *

PS: Loki speechless? Rare

**I'm pleased that so many people are giving slack to Tony. He's honestly not a bad guy...just a tad too arrogant and a man of complexities. XD And it's cool, I don't judge about atheism. Talking about other religions can be quite taboo, but I figured sometimes when a loved one dies, the family members will question some form of higher power of why their dead family member had to die…**

caramelkitkat:Oh Gawd... I was laughing so hard XD at the bit where Arianna scared the crap out of Loki XD couldn't stop laughing! XD

Arianna, you are awesome!

Author, you are epic, gimme high five for this chapter! * holds out hand*

**Wow, surprisingly people found that particular bit to be funny… *high fives back* And it's 'Aiyanna' not Arianna. X) **

Zoe: TONY FEELS

**Feels in freaking deed.**

coolguest: Is there ANY chance I get to see loki jamming to footloose with aiyanna? ;)

**THAT my friend, is a wonderful idea. I shall keep that in mind. **

Guest:Tony quit being a jerk, and loki HUG HER NOW AND COMFORT HER OR WHATEVER THIS IS SO SAD AND CUTE AND AHHH

**Give the guy some cheese, he has some issues that he has to work out. ;p Loki isn't at the hugging stage yet - but he's getting there. **

literaturelife7:Oh Tony...you and your insomnia and projects. And poor Bruce keeps getting water dumped on him during awkward moments. I loved the part where Aiyanna was perched over Loki smiling and scared the hell out of him when he woke up!

**I kno, Bruce is some kind of water magnet or what? XD You liked that Aiyanna and Loki bit too? I guess it is funny in a way.**

* * *

**"Anger is just anger. It isn't good. It isn't bad. It just is. What you do with it is what matters. It's like anything else. You can use it to build or to destroy. You just have to make the choice."**

_**- Jim Butcher**_

* * *

**~Chapter Thirteen~**

Aiyanna didn't understand Tony's way. Although she was prepped up after her talk with Pepper and Logan, she waited for Tony to come back into her life, to fulfill his role as a dad and his promise. Another day went by. Another. Then a whole week. Tony didn't even so much came out of the workshop to go to the bathroom or eat food - he probably has a bathroom in there and gets food by ordering JARVIS.

By this point, she felt cheated. Cheated of the promise that Tony gave her. She felt...abandoned. Aiyanna knows that she has Pepper, Logan, and Tony's other friends - but that father figure is empty in her life. Aiyanna finally accepted the fact that her father will _never_ come back - so now she is left with an unfamiliar, raging, smoldering feeling left in her chest that sucked the joy out of everything. Once again, when Pepper came to comfort her this morning about Tony, Aiyanna snapped at her.

"Why do you keep lying to me?" Aiyanna shots at Pepper. She can sense the tense shock and hurt from Pepper, even though she couldn't see her face. But Aiyanna couldn't stop herself. "You're not keeping your promise either mommy. Besides, you and Tony are never around! Stop telling me that it'll be okay, that he'll be here, that he'll be a GOOD dad like Daddy, because he can never be like him! And neither can you!" Aiyanna had no idea why she said the last part.

The silence that Pepper gave Aiyanna startled the girl. She finally said to her, "I'm sorry you feel that way." Pepper left without another word from the exchange. Aiyanna wanted to yell at her, 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean it, those words weren't mine!' The little girl had no idea where all of those mean-spirited words tumbled out from - she was sure her daddy would've given her a scolding for that.

Now she feels miserable, sad, sorry, and all sorts of feelings that Aiyanna couldn't understand or tell. But the main emotion that she felt out of all of them was this: anger. Anger. What a mean-sounding word. Thinking of the word 'anger,' sent a flaring red exploding in Aiyanna's head. _Nothing is fair. _She thought to herself, clenching her fists.

_Why me? Out of all the other girls in the world, why did MY daddy have to die? _Aiyanna couldn't stop herself from thinking the naughty and evil wish that _somebody_ else's daddy died. She couldn't help it. But she knows that no matter how much she wished, wished, wished, wished for something to happen, nothing ever will. There are no fairies to grant her wishes in fairytales, or witches to cast a spell to bring back her daddy.

Aiyanna kicked the couch. She punched the pillows. She screamed into them as loud as she could. She kicked, swinged her arms, and thrashed all about. Angry, red, angry, red, red, red is all she could see in her head. Aiyanna doesn't care if she's misbehaving. No one can hear her. No one will _care. _

"I HATE IT!" She shouts, throwing the pillow viciously from her hand, even though she couldn't see where she's throwing it. That hardly matters. "I HATE DADDY, I HATE LOKI, I HATE PEPPER, I HATE TONY, I HATE EVERYONE!" The words tumble out of her mouth. Though deep in her heart, she truly didn't mean those words. Except for the part where she said she hated Loki. That was true. _He _caused all of this. _He_ is the reason for her terrible sadness. _Why daddy, why? How can you be so mean and selfish? _Aiyanna thought, repeatedly hitting a pillow in her hands, over and over.

_How could you be so selfish to jump in front of the old man? Didn't you think about me?!_ Aiyanna recalled the fact that Loki originally was going to kill an old man. But her daddy had to jump in front of him and selfishly give away his life...

The fabric is soft and scratchy. Aiyanna hated the fact how it is still undamaged from her blows. She wanted to _destroy_ something. She wanted to take her anger out on _something. _For something to feel her burning pain that is in her chest that she couldn't get out, for something to know her sadness, her grief, her rage. Once Aiyanna finally accepted that she couldn't do any damage to the pillow, she falls back, muffling her face into the couch. It smells musky, pain, and dusty. Almost like nothing. Aiyanna wished that she can feel nothing. The anger is sucking everything out from her. Making her feel so empty, then sad, then angry all over again…

* * *

Loki wondered briefly to himself why the little Midguardian hasn't come over yet. For the past week, she has daily came over to his floor for his company. Because of Tony Stark's irresponsibility of being a parent - Loki found himself greatly irritated at the Man of Iron's actions. And felt a little closer to Aiyanna. Sometimes, _he_ felt neglected by his father, no, Odin, when he himself was a mere child. How distant he was, how empty of opinion and praise he was to Loki. Yes, yes, Loki can relate…

He eyes the black box called a 'digital clock' that tells time. 12:56. Hm. The little Midguardian is indeed late…

The god of mischief's suddenly feelings his hairs raise. A faint presence of energy is traveling around in the room. Loki jumps to his feet. _Magic. _

"Hello, darling." A familiar, warm honey voice suddenly says. Loki feels himself freeze up. _Frigga. _

Loki does not turn around. "Lady Frigga." He swallows. "What is the reason of your sudden visit, my Queen?"

The Queen of Asgard appears in front of him, and smiles. She puts her hand to his cheek, in which Loki couldn't help but flinch. Though there is no sensation on his cheek, for the appearance of Frigga is only an enchanted astral projection of her. But nevertheless, Loki couldn't stand it. Sadness twinkles in her eyes. "No Loki, you are to address me as _Mother._"

Loki gives out a bitter laugh, avoiding her gaze. "No, Lady Frigga. Did you not forget?" He runs his finger over a table near them. "I am Loki _Laufeyson_," He spits that part out with pure hatred. "As Odin decreed. I am not longer an Odinson." He closes his eyes, squeezing them shut.

Frigga laughs softly, a wistful and melancholy edge to it. "My dear, what is this strange illusion that you take?" She says, addressing his appearance as Logan Stark. "Let me see your true face." She waves a glowing hand over Loki's body. He feels a warmth wave of energy travel over him. Looks like he's back to his normal appearance. "Though Odin said so, he cannot erase all of those years of family and love that we shared in the past." Frigga says.

Loki sighs. Frigga refuses to let him go. A part of him clings onto her desperately, happy that someone is standing so ferociously at his side. But at the same time, he knows that she is too good for the likes of _him. _"Lady Frigga, my ladyship, please hasten to telling me of why you visit me." He states, trying to put up an indifferent facade.

Frigga gazes at him with a disappointed look, but nods. "I thought that I should tell you, for you have the rights to know the condition of our people - Asgard is indeed in a bloody war right now." Loki feels himself stop breathing. "The Chitauri and Frost Giants have joined forces and are both attacking our world." Correction, Loki is breathing. Breathing fast. He runs a hand over his face. How did it come to this? He expected the Asguardians to easily win over the Frost Giants - but they joined forces?

"It is the darkest age that Asgard has to come to face." Frigga strolls back and forth, looking troubled as she speaks of it. "It will be long, hard, and bloody."

"Well, damn." Loki says, facing the window with clasped hands. "Tell me, does Odin know that you are visiting me? Ah, how he must miss me so. I would be quite the valuable asset in war, and he knows that fully well…" Loki can feel a familiar bitterness twisting up inside him.

"You know fully well, Loki, that you yourself have brought this fate upon yourself as well as Asgard." Loki flinches slightly hearing the rigidness in Frigga's voice. "But what has come to play, has come to play. It will be dealt with and solved."

Loki balls up his hands. "I was only giving truth to the lies that Odin has caused in the first place. That it is my birthright to be king - that I am _worthy_ or something." Loki hisses angrily, walking the opposite direction.

"A king?" Frigga says incredulously. She gives a stern look at Loki. "A true king, Loki, would own up to his actions. Admit his flaws and faults. Rule with peace and not with mere fear. Have you truly seen the fact of the damage you have brought upon Midgard? The lives that you have taken," Frigga says the last part with a deep sadness and disappointment. Loki avoids his gaze when she says that.

"Please. They are meant to be ruled." He says, though feeling that he doesn't quite mean it. "Besides, when _Odin_ accomplished peace, did he not take many lives in the process? That does not make him any different from me!" Loki snarls.

Frigga gives a disapproving look. "Your father-"

"HE IS NOT MY FATHER!" Loki snaps, flipping over the nearby table. It smashes to pieces in front of the two. Loki breathes hard, staring down at it. Broken and smashed like him…

The Asguardian woman only looks on, unfazed, as if her son were throwing a mere tantrum. A delicate smile spreads on her face. "Then...am I not your mother, my son?"

Loki tenses up. He stares at Frigga for a good five seconds. She too, lied to him all of his life. She took part in the secret with Odin...but...but...that did not stop her from treating Loki as her child. With love. With care. Giving him what he can call his own and talent, magic. He _couldn't possibly_ bring himself to hate her. But he could lie. "No." He smiles weakly at her. "You're not."

Frigga smiles back, a knowing and old look on her face. Though whether she realized it or not, tears are building up at the corners of his eyes. Pain stabs in Loki's chest. He wanted to immediately rush to her, wipe the tears from her eyes, say that he was sorry, beg to go home. But that was stupid and impulsive. Frigga was a hologram, and Heimdall wouldn't let Loki back home. Loki keeps his composure.

"Just...go, my lady."

Wordlessly, Frigga holds out her hand. Loki stares at it. He does not take it. And Frigga disappears in a blink of an eye.

Loki squeezes his eyes. It hurts. Not physically. But...emotionally and mentally. It hurts, it hurts him so damn much.

* * *

Bruce walked in to check on Aiyanna. Pepper called in, saying that Aiyanna didn't go to Loki as part of her daily visit, so Bruce decided to check in on the girl. He happened to walk in on her in a fiery tantrum by herself. She punched the couch, threw pillows across the room, yelled unintelligible things, and screamed like crazy. Bruce decided to let the girl vent out. _It looks like she's past the Denial stage of grief. _Bruce thought to himself. After a good five minutes, Aiyanna finally stopped, and broke down into tears. _Now's the time. _

The scientist walked to the center of the room, and peers over the couch. Aiyanna is sobbing into a pillow, punching it at the same time. _Poor kid needs to vent out that anger. Anger. Hm, I'm familiar with that. Practically an old friend. _"Aiyanna? Are you done?" He asks patiently.

Aiyanna's head snaps up, her red tinged eyes gazing at him. "G-Green Rain? I mean, B-Bruce?" She wipes her nose, sitting up. "You saw all of that? Am I in trouble?"

"What? No, no, of course not! Is there some sort of new law where it's illegal to get angry?" Bruce questions jokingly, giving a lopsided smile.

The little girl pauses, looking uncertain. "No?"

"Exactly." Bruce smiles. "You feel angry, right?"

"Yeah. Really, really angry." Aiyanna sniffles, then hiccups.

Bruce walks to the sink, grabbing a glass, He fills it up with water. "Why do you feel angry?"

Aiyanna thinks about it for a moment. "A lot of things," She whispers. "I'm mad at everything for some reason." Bruce goes through the freezer. There's the ice cubes. "I'm mad at Tony for breaking his promise and not being a real dad. I'm mad at my daddy for dying and leaving me. I'm mad at Loki for killing my daddy. I'm mad at Pepper...because I just feel mad." Bruce listens closely, as he puts some cubes into the glass of water.

He hands it to Aiyanna, and she takes some sips from it. He leans against the wall, looking off at the direction of where Tony's workshop is. Typical Tony. But does he really not see the mental impact he's causing on Aiyanna? "It's perfectly natural, what you're going through Aiyanna. No one can blame you."

"Really?" Aiyanna says, her hands tightly clasped around her glass.

"But," Bruce says. "You have to control that anger. Or else, you'll misdirect it at people, like Pepper. Even though it's human to get angry, and you have every right to be angry in your situation, you have to learn how to manage it."

"How can I?" Aiyanna asks, looking a little helpless.

Bruce gives a small, bitter smile. "Anger is my best friend and my worst enemy. But I learned how to make it both. And I can teach you, if you want."

"Really, you can?" Aiyanna says, standing up and setting down the glass of water.

"Yeah. Let me just bring some stuff up here so that we can get started?"

Aiyanna nods, looking a bit hopeful.

* * *

Was Loki having a lot of visits today. And none of them were from Aiyanna. After Frigga visited him, Thor did as well. May the Norns help him, he thought, staring up at the ceiling as Thor entered the room. The first few minutes were silent, Loki not making an attempt to address Thor, Thor not making an attempt to say anything. The trickster god concentrates at looking at the ceiling as best as he can. _Perhaps if I ignore him, he will go away._

"You have received the message from Mother and Father, have you not, Loki?" Thor asks, a grim edge to his voice.

Still staring up at the ceiling, Loki spells it out for Thor. "Odin. Is. Not. My. _FATHER._" Loki seethes. "Do I not make myself clear?!" He hisses at his older sibling. A realization over takes him. _He said that Frigga and Odin visited him...of course…_ Loki gives out a bitter laugh. Odin truly does not give a _damn_ about him. But that is expected, is it not?

Thor glances away, his expression unreadable. Yet a little guilt is read from his face, saying that both parents visited him. "So you did get the message."

"Yes Thor, is that so important for our little conversation?" Loki says, rolling his eyes yet his teeth are clenched tightly. "Why do you waste your breath on this subject?"

"The concern of our world is equal for both of us." Thor replies.

"Hmph. Well, they certainly won't be concerned for my well being when I arrive back on Asgard for my final trial. They surely want my head." Loki says dryily, giving a thin, bitter smile.

"Loki, your actions are not justified," Thor says. Loki once again rolls his eyes. "But you do not deserve being killed for them. You are my brother."

Loki squeezes his eyes shut. Must this oaf persist? Does he not get the message that he is sending SO CLEARLY to him?! "You are not my BROTHER! We are not even related by BLOOD, because you know fully damn well, WHAT I REALLY AM!" Loki screams, jumping to his feet. He hurls a vase at his direction. Thor easily swats it to the side, the object shattering. Sadness is on the thunderer's face.

"But you are. Even if we are not brothers by blood, we grew up together. Are those years of childhood and adventures we had together all for naught? Do they mean nothing to you, Loki?"

Loki laughs. And laughs, and laughs, and laughs. How _endearing. _Bemusing. Naive. He finally regains hold of himself. "They mean _nothing,_" Loki spits out, grinning without a shred of remorse. This finally gets to Thor. He flinches, drawing back. Loki grins even wider, seeing that he finally got through that thick skull. "That's right. Our time together means _absolutely nothing _to me. And do you know _why?_" Loki says pacing in front of Thor.

He turns sharply to him. "Because that wasn't the real _me._ You don't know me Thor, not truly." Loki is over flooded with memories. Overwhelming. "You do not know how many times I clambered, picking up the pieces of your glory that you leave behind. You do not know those times that you jest and jeer at my talents that it actually hurt me. You do not know, what was the first spell I learned, because you were too busy learning how to kill your first enemy!" Loki's voice is raising with each thing he listed off.

"You do not _know me_ Thor. Because you do not understand me. You think, that just because I'm adopted, just because that I'm a, _Frost Giant,"_ Loki hisses out. This earns a flinch from Thor. "That it is my nature to be destructive. That the reason why I am what you call, 'evil' or 'insane' or 'power-hungry' is because of my heritage. Because being a Frost Giant DEFINES WHAT I AM!" Loki is running out of breath by this point. But he wasn't even close to finishing his rant. How long he wanted to say this.

"Guess what Thor? Guess _what?_" Loki is up in Thor's face. His spit flies out on the god of thunder's face. Thor stares into his eyes, his gaze crackling with a brewing anger. Loki smirks at this. He wants the almighty Thor to sink to his level. They will be equals at least, if they are both angry at each other. "_You_, Sif, the Warriors Three, and _everyone else_ has made me into what I am! Do you hear me? It's - your - fault -!"

_SLAP!_

Everything seems to go blank for Loki. The next moment, he finds himself on the ground. Loki gasps for air. His breath was literally _knocked out of him._ Loki struggles to his feet. He takes in a deep breath, seeing drops of red splotching on the floor. He grins, gritting his teeth. Ha. Victory.

Thor is breathing hard, his right hand clenched into a fist, some of Loki's blood on it. Loki laughs. "We are equals now, _brother."_ He says the last part with as much mocking as he could." Thor gives out a roar, picking up Loki by the collar.

"Do not _dare_ accuse me and everyone else of such deluded accusations!" He bellows, shaking Loki back and forth like a rag doll. "Are _YOU_ blind Loki? You grew up with the people who RESPECTED you, LOVED you, and CARED for you!" Thor yells in his face. "So do not blame me, Sif, the Three Warriors, our parents, that we are your unravelling! Because Loki, you, yourself part take in your own undoing. You twisted up everyone else's words and actions to make them the villain. You wallowed in your own self-pity."

Loki laughs once again, despite the fact he was practically being choked to death. "Is that what you think? Then you are blind as well Thor." He sputters out.

Anger flares in Thor's eyes. "Then I might as well knock the sense into you!" Thor draws back his fist. Loki eyes in, smiling. _Yes. Do it. Do it. Hit me. Let's see the almighty gracious merciful Thor strike his brother. _Though the hit does not come.

"Well?" Loki manages to rasp out. "What are you waiting for? Are you scared?"

Finally, Thor throws Loki on the floor. Loki blinks, taking a in a huge breath of air. Thor shakes his head. "I will not bring myself to sink to your levels, Loki. I cannot." Thor spins on his heel. Before he leaves the floor he says over his shoulder, "I am tired of being tortured by your words, Loki. Let yourself see it this way. And you will only drown yourself in more sorrow." And Thor disappears.

Loki struggles up to his feet. He wipes his nose, ignoring the loud pounding in his head. He staggers over to the Midguardian device called a, 'TV,' and drives his fist into it. This action shatters to shiny black surface. He rips the device from its mount, and throws it with all of his might across the room from where Thor exited out from. It smashes into billions of pieces.

_Once so smooth and perfect,_ Loki mused to himself, as he grabs everything off a nearby shelf and throws it over his shoulder in a mindless fit of rage. _Now shattered and broken. _Loki knocks the shelf over. It smashes into oblivion as well. He stands there, still for a moment, surveying the destruction and vandalism he brought upon the room.

Loki reveled in it.

Destruction.

His speciality.

He celebrated the rage boiling in him, as he violently shreds open some pillows.

Rage.

An old friend.

Loki stormed over to the bathroom, and stares into the mirror. He is back to his normal appearance. His nose is blotched in blood. His sleek black hair is now in disarray, hanging wildly around the frame of his face. His face looks more sharp, gaunt, and sunken in. Pale. Loki flashes a crooked smile at the reflection, before shattering it with a fist.

He stares down at his now bloodied fist in fascination, as his blood trickles down his pale hand. Ha. It looked like red paint standing on his pale skin.

Yes. Rage is a very familiar friend.

He welcomed it.

He embraced it.

Loki moved on to ripping the shower curtains. He proceeded punching holds in the wall, despite the pain and injury he was causing on himself. It's not like anyone would give a damn about his well being anyway.

Rage.

_It was all he had._

* * *

**A/N: God...that was intense. And man, did Loki and Aiyanna go full out into a Rage Mode. Ultimate Rage Mode. I feel angry myself after writing all of that...I have to say, I applaud myself. This is another very emotional chapter I managed to write, aside from the emotion of sadness and angst. People, this is **_**rage. **_**I mean...dayuuuummmmm. I feel angry now...Reviews please!**


	14. To Be Trusting

**A/N: Wowzers. 100 reviews? I'm so frickin' happy, you don't even know! Thank you everyone for reading and sticking with my story - I mean good golly, this is one of my first fics that gets to 100 reviews before chapter twenty! Thanks so much guys! :,D You're all awesome!**

queenImno:Poor Aiyanna. She is mad at a world she doesn't understand and can't see. And Loki. He is mad at a world that doesn't understand what happened to him and that he can't unsee. They are both so mad, and one did in a way cause the other pain. How will Loki deal with Aiyanna's anger and how will she deal with loki's rage?

**You...are a genius. Ho-ly shit, I did not think of it that way! (And I'm the author, which makes it pretty sad…) Great way of thinking, I love it! Those are quite GREAT observations and questions!**

.5454:jeeze B'y Intense much.. and oh how you keep tourtering me with the ends to your Chapters but I mist say**Applaud** :D

**Thank you! I put all of my emotion in the last chapter - it's a passion. **

meezieb1:Wow... A really powerful chapter! Speechless!

I know you could make tony more evil...sigh... But I think you did a great job with him!

**A thank you to you too! (I wasn't kidding when I said I can write Tony to be more of a jerkass...haha...HAHAHAHAhahahaha! Man, I sound like a psycho.)**

Littlemonster19: Your writing is so amazing I could picture it all in my head! Get me another pill of angst because I am down for the feels!

**Many thanks for your kind compliment! ****٩****(ↀДↀ)****۶ ****Don't worry, I'll write another angst chapter soon…**

person D: I really want to lecture Loki. Aiyanna is covered, because, Bruce, he knows. Bruce is up there in the awesome levels with Yoda, and Ghandi, Mother Theresa, and Stephen Hawking. But Loki doesn't get Bruce. No, Loki needs two things, the first being Aiyanna. She needs to go in and remind him what the raging Loki did. The second thing he needs is someone, probably Pepper, who isn't going to take his crap, and instead will make him sit down and shut up, and then explain to him the fallacies in his argument. Also, author. Thank you. Keep up the awesome.

**Bruce is indeed a wise Yoda. *nods in agreement* Don't worry, Loki is gonna get a scolding from someone soon enough. (●ↀωↀ●)**

Zoe:NOW THERE'S ALL THOSE LOKI FEELS

SO MANY FEELS

**In freaking deed my friend, in freaking deed. ****（；へ：）**

PokerFace1213:Awesome chapter! I really loved hearing more about how Loki felt. I an certainly identify with both him and Aiyanna. You are an terrific author and I can't wait for the next update!

**Interesting how you can relate to them. Thank you for the review!**

fan-de-carlisle-cullen:Aiyanna was right to snap at Pepper. I mean Pepper spends her days working - which is fine and I'm all for it - but she did not bring modifications to her schedule so as to be more present for her ward. And most of all, she lets Tony be instead of dragging him out of his workshop by force.

About Loki: he's perfectly right in his belief that Odin and the others' treatment of him shaped him into what he is. Thor is being a self-righteous jerk here. Not even trying to understand all the hurt and heartbreak that have been plaguing his little brother - someone he should love and protect instead of the other way around - for years.

But to be fair, this is not Thor's fault he is this way: he was conditioned his whole life never to question his actions and beliefs. Same for Odin and Frigga.

**Another interesting and dimensional viewpoint. As for Pepper, well, running a very successful and popular company is a bunch of hard work. :-/ It's only been a week since Tony's disappeared of them, and I bet she has been used to much longer periods, so she hasn't cracked yet. But oh well, I'm always interested to see what you have to say on the matter. ;) Glad to see that you can see Thor's side of the situation as well. He's still immature in his own way, y'know.**

A Lily By Any Other Name:Daredevil reference! *screams* That made my day tbh. Sorry for the nerd freak out, but that's my favorite Marvel character of all time. Great fic so far. Keep it up!

**Looks like someone's a Daredevil fan. ****(o‿∩)**

.9:So deep, and sad. I have no words to say how good it was! :(

**Thank you. Don't worry. Everybody's in this together. *pats back***

:This is so awsome that I can't atuly deal with it ... Just... You are amazing and I can't wait for an new chapter!

**Thank you for reading and reviewing! ^_^ **

literaturelife7:Wow. Everyone was super pissed but in the best possible way. I love that Bruce was the one who found Aiyanna in a fit of rage. So perfect. And I'm glad Thor hit Loki; I'm sure his self-indulgence can get overbearing at times. I mean, I know you have problems Loki but so does everyone else. Put on your big boy pants and deal with it. Those are just my thoughts anyway :) Great chapter as usual! Can't wait to see what Tony's mystery project is.

**I figured that Bruce was perfect to deal with Aiyanna's anger fit. I was all like, 'Oh wow, I need them to develop a relationship with each other, but HOW?' And it hit me. And that's a first for me seeing that a reader is on Thor's side! :D In truth, I take no sides in the situation - I want to leave it up to you readers on which side to take. **

leebee14: Oh no.

**Yep.**

* * *

**"Men in rage strike those that wish them best." **

― _**William Shakespeare**_

* * *

**~Chapter Fourteen~**

Aiyanna struggles to sit perfectly still like Bruce. But, her legs were cramping…

"Breathe in, breath out…" Bruce repeats like a mantra, Aiyanna hearing him take in and breath deep breaths of air. From the stereo that Bruce brought up, plays the gentle sound of a waterfall. Soft colors of blue swirl around in her head. Although the sounds are comforting and gentle, Aiyanna found herself wanting to fall asleep. And wanting to go to the bathroom…

Aiyanna breathes in and out, imitating the same like Bruce. How long has she been sitting? It feels like a really long time...Aiyanna extends her right leg out as quietly as she could, hoping that Bruce wasn't looking. She couldn't help but thought that Bruce's anger management methods would've been a little more...less boring? Right now they were 'meditating' - but all Aiyanna saw it was just sitting down, listening to the sounds of a waterfall, and breathing very loudly.

Her thoughts bounce around to other random subjects. Is Pepper angry at her? Is Tony ever going to come out of the workshop? What's Logan doing now? Aiyanna feels a little guilt surge through her chest. She didn't visit Logan today...will he get angry at her as well? Ow, her leg is sleeping again…

"Aiyanna, are you getting bored?" Bruce's voice suddenly says.

She jumps a little in surprise, feeling as if Bruce was talking for the first time in hours. "Huh? Ehhhh kind of." She confesses.

A chuckle comes from Bruce. "Oh well. It was worth a shot. I suppose that I shouldn't expect a kid your age to be able to sit so long. You could've said something sooner, Aiyanna, if this wasn't working out for you." He gives out a little groan, Aiyanna hearing him shuffle his legs. "My legs were cramping up anyway. We can try something else to see how we can vent out your anger."

"Okay," Aiyanna agrees, relieved that they didn't need to meditate anymore.

"You know, we can go down to the gym and try something I have in mind...how does that sound?"

"Okay Bruce!"

_CRASH! KABOOM!_

"EEK!" Aiyanna shrieks, jumping in her place. The sudden loud sounds seemed to come from below...Bruce gives a surprised yelp as well, knocking over the stereo. He gives a frustrated groan, rustling around to put the object back in its place.

"What the heck was that?" He says aloud.

"I think it came from below," Aiyanna says, scrambling up to her feet. "That's where Logan lives."

"Hm, wonder what's causing all of that ruckus?" Bruce says.

Another crash interrupts them. Aiyanna felt the floor vibrate a little, as if something hit the ceiling from below. "Do you think he's in trouble?"

"Who knows? Say, do you want to check on him before we go to the gym? I know you were supposed to see him today, like you did for past week," Bruce adds on, a kind note in his tone. Aiyanna smiles at this offer.

"Yeah, I'd really like that. Thanks Bruce!"

"Okay, I'll be waiting up here once you're done."

"Kay!" Bruce leads Aiyanna to the elevator, and she steps inside by herself. She pushes level sixty six, where Logan lives.

* * *

It looks like the ceiling is cracked. That was because Loki threw a chair at it, in his fit of rage. He stares at the now ruined room. Looks like he pretty much destroyed everything.

Breathing hard, he looks down at his arms. There were cuts, blood, and bruises forming all over. He must look like a mess. _Oh Hel._ He thought faintly, now feeling completely empty. He leans his head against the wall, closing his eyes. The rage is still boiling steady within him. It was eating away at everything, demanding more and more. It won't end. It won't get filled. It won't disappear.

Loki tries regaining back the normal pace of his breathing. His mind robotically commands him only two things. Breathe in, breathe out, in, out, in, out…

_Ding!_ Goes the elevators. Loki's head snaps up, a scowl obscuring his face. Who in the Hel dares to come into his domain now?

"Logan? Logan, are you here?" He suddenly hears the familiar voice of the mortal blind girl. His eyes fly open, and he sees Aiyanna entering the destroyed living room.

Loki breathes out raggedly. He claws at his face feverishly. Of all times…. He slowly curls up his legs to his chest. _Goawayaway, away…_ He thought, his head pounding, as he watches her quietly.

She spreads her arms out, as they wave around in front of her. Clicking her tongue, Aiyanna takes a few steps forward. Fortunately, she's far away from his spot… "Ah!" She gives out a short scream, tripping over a flipped over white Midguardian furniture. Loki watches on, not saying anything. Lost and innocent, the little mortal is. _Thud!_ "Oof...hey, the couch is flipped over! Logan, where are you?"

"Just go away," Loki says, breathing out sharply. _Pound, pound, pound_ it bangs inside his head like a loud hammer.

Aiyanna's face lits up. "Logan!" It turns into concern. She gets up to her feet and start walking towards him. "What happened? Bruce and I heard really loud noises coming from down here and I thought that you were in trouble or something...oh, and I'm sorry I didn't visit earlier I just got really angry at myself for some reason-"

"_Get out."_ Loki hisses like a caged animal, pounding his fist on the wall.

The little Midguardian flinches at his sudden harsh words. Loki felt a little guilt at snapping at him, but the rage inside him eats it away. _This is the real you_ he told himself. _This is what you are. A bitter, cold monster. Such an innocent little child should not be with the likes of you, she needs to go away from you, erased from your life…_ "Didn't you hear me?" Loki says slowly, his words clipped. "I said…._GET...OUT!_" He roars.

Aiyanna gasps and scrambles backwards. She trips once again, falling on some shattered glass. "Ah!" She yelps out, and then a sob escapes her mouth. Loki blinks. Blood red is dripping from Aiyanna's little hand. He blinks again. A cut is on her small hand. Some glass is covered in blood. Loki watches the mortal, struggling in pain from her injury, emotionless and reactionless at first.

He felt nothing while watching his little companion in pain.

Tears are falling from Aiyanna's eyes, as she bites down her bottom lip. Sobs and hiccups escape her more, her little shoulders shaking. Her cries finally reach Loki.

He finally regains his senses. He gasps for air, the heavy weight that he was feeling suddenly off his chest. _What in the Hel is wrong with him?_ "Aiyanna, you are hurt…" He says, rising to his feet. He stumbles at first, weak and drained of energy, but manages to walk to the child. She is sobbing hysterically now.

"No, no, get away from me, you're not Logan…" She whimpers, backing away.

"Calm down Aiyanna." Loki says firmly, putting his hands gently on her shoulders. They looked so big on her. He closes his eyes, muttering a simple calming spell under his breath, forwarding the calming waves to the Midguardian. Warmth travels out of his body to the little girl. Finally, Aiyanna's tense shoulders loosen up, and relaxes.

She now only weeps softly, hiccups interrupting her crying. Loki rips a piece of his shirt, and wips Aiyanna's face of her tears. Her head is turned away from looking at him, In fear. Though guilt and remorse pangs in his chest, Loki forcefully shoves it down. His feelings do not matter right now. Aiyanna's injury needs treatment. He looks down at the cut on her right hand.

Thankfully, no glass is wedged in there, and the glass did not cut in deep enough. Loki takes the rag, and dabs the blood off gently. He wished that he could use a healing or pain numbing spell on the little girl to make up for it. But he was already weakened of his little magic and energy. Loki keeps his eyes down on her cut. He grips her other uninjured hand, but hers did not grip his.

"Forgive me." He suddenly says, raising his head.

Aiyanna sniffles, another tear escaping her eye. Loki quickly wipes it away with his thumb. "Why did you yell at me?"

He bows his head down. "I was angry. I am sorry, Little One, I should not have taken it out on you."

Aiyanna is silent for a moment, a thoughtful look crossing her face. "Is that why there's a lot of broken stuff around here? Because you were angry."

Loki nods. "Yes. That's not quite like me, is it?"

"No," She agrees, then hiccups. "Why were you angry?"

Loki purses his lips. He cannot tell Aiyanna. She wouldn't not understand anyway…

_Ding! _Goes the elevator. Loki looks up. Bruce is standing in the doorway, his jaw dropped open. "Ho-ly…" He gives a low whistle. He looks over to Aiyanna and Loki. _Well this must look bad. _Loki thought. A threatening look crosses the scientist's face when he sees the blood and damage. "What happened here?" He asks quietly. But Loki can sense the impending danger dripping from them.

"Aiyanna accidently cut herself on glass," Loki says, looking at the broken pieces of sharp substance. "I frightened her, so it is my fault."

Bruce eyes him suspiciously. "Is this true Aiyanna?"

"Yeah." Aiyanna nods. "But he said sorry."

"That's good." Bruce walks over, and examines Aiyanna's cut. "It's not a big deal luckily, but I'll get the first aid kit." He looks at Loki, surveying his appearance. "You need to be treated too, _Logan._" he says, looking at Loki with a dry dismay. He then walks off into the floor towards the bathroom.

Aiyanna and Loki sit in silence for Bruce's return, the two are tightly holding hands. This time, Aiyanna is gripping Loki's hand as well. _She forgives me._ Loki thought, couldn't help but feel relieved. Bruce quickly returns with a bunch of miscellaneous objects in his arms. He sets them down and works on Aiyanna first.

He dabs some substance on a cloth, and rubs it gently on Aiyanna's hand. She winces in discomfort, but braces through whatever pain the substance seemed to cause her. Loki watches the man with the inner beast take a roll of white cloth, and he proceeds wrapping it around her hand. Quickly, Bruce is able to bandage the little girl's hand. She smiles at him. "Thanks Bruce."

"No problem kid. Now you." Bruce says, turning to Loki.

Loki couldn't help but feel defensive and helpless. A former enemy treating his wounds? Maddening. "I can treat my wounds myself, thank you." Loki states as flatly as he could.

Bruce raises a simple eyebrow. "Yeah, who's the doctor around here?" Without waiting for the trickster's consent, he moves on to treating Loki's injuries. The mortal man starts with a wide gash on Loki's ankle first. He raises a dark blue bottle over it. Bruce hesitantly looks up at Loki. "I'm gonna warn you, this is going to hurt."

Loki answers by shrugging. Aiyanna sits besides him, listening closely. "Okay. Don't say I didn't warn you." Bruce tips over the bottle, a white liquid pouring out. Making contact with Loki's open wound, it immediately _sizzled. _Loki's eyes widen, as he chokes back a scream.

"What in the _Hel?_" He hisses through his teeth, gripping his leg. Aiyanna frowns disapprovingly at him. Bruce only shrugs, carefree. "What sort of substance do you use on me?"

"Hydrogen peroxide." Bruce replies simply.

Loki scowls at the bottle, and bears sitting through Banner's treatment of his cuts. Soon enough, the scientist was able to cover and patch up all of Loki's injuries. Loki stares down at his bandage covered hand. Somehow he felt a little better… He looks up at Bruce, who is washing his hands at the sink. "Thank you." Loki says stiffly to him.

Bruce glances up as he dries his hand on a towel. He gives a small nod. "No prob." He looks around the damaged room once again. "Boy is Tony not going to be pleased by _this," _He comments, shaking his head, though looking a little impressed. "Dang, I will measure this damage equal to the Hulk's. A little impressive. Well, let's go." He helps Aiyanna to her feet, and looks over to Loki.

"We're heading to the gym to try out some anger management stuff and whatnot. Want to come?"

Loki stares blankly at the man in disbelief.

"Well, you definitely need some sort of way to vent," Bruce says, looking at the shattered flatscreen TV at his feet. "The destruction of this room mirrors pure rage. You good sir, have anger issues." Loki feels his nostrils flare. Even the beast who tries to act like a human is insolent with him. Bruce gives a calm smirk, seeing Loki's reaction. "See what I mean? Whether you like it or not, I highly recommend that you come with us."

"It'll be fun with you around Logan!" Aiyanna adds on, perking up.

Loki is hesitant for some reason. "Am I not allowed out of my quarters? Isn't that against Tony Stark's rules?" He most of all wanted to ask, _Do you not trust me? _

Bruce shrugs. Aiyanna frowns, sticking her tongue at at that. "That's okay. Besides. Who really listens to Tony around here anyway? Not like he would care." Bruce smiles. Mischief twinkles in his eyes. Loki finds himself standing up, finding Banner to be a kindred spirit. Perhaps there is more to the beast than what meets the eye.

* * *

_What the hell are you doing?_ Bruce simply thought to himself as he, Aiyanna, and the former supervillain all stand in the elevator in silence as 'Shoot to Thrill' plays in the background to serve as elevator music. Pfft. Tony's doing once again. He glances over to Aiyanna and Loki. He really had no idea why he invited the guy. He said it so himself that Tony and Pepper shouldn't be so lenient about letting Aiyanna getting so close to Loki. It was a recipe for disaster and tragedy.

However, Bruce knows that he couldn't bring himself to cause so much distress and disturbance to people and only quietly observe. Keep his distance. Be in the background. But when Bruce sees these two people in their moments of rage and anger - he couldn't help but see himself in them. It's funny. When Bruce thinks of it, anger and rage seems to be similar in everyone. They are different, however, in individuals depending on the way they use it.

The doors open to reveal the huge room of the gym. All three get out of the elevator. Bruce glances around. He couldn't help but sigh in quiet relief, seeing that no one was in the gym. He eyes the punching bags stacked up in the side of the gym. _Hope Steve doesn't mind that I use up some of his punching bags…_ He thought, walking towards it, Loki and Aiyanna following behind.

Bruce lifts a blue punching bag sitting on top of the stack - oh _boy_ was it freaking heavy. Even though Banner had an alter ego that had superhuman strength, speed, and all that good stuff, Bruce is still a normal human with normal standards, which can kind of be a pain at times. He manages to drag the huge bag off of the stack, and struggles lifting it up. Irritation spikes up in his head, when he sees Loki looking on at his struggle without making attempt to help. In fact a little smirk is curling on his lips.

The scientist grits his teeth. So much for gratitude. "A...little help? This isn't exactly like lifting a chair, you know." He wheezes, barely able to lift the bag an inch off from the ground.

Loki sighs, rolling his eyes. "Doctor, I am sure that you have more man power than - oof." Loki states when he tries to lift the bag. Bruce smirks at Loki.

"Not so easy is it?" _He must not be as strong in Asguardian standards since those bracelets of his drain his magic or whatever._ Bruce thought as he eyes the golden objects on his wrists. Loki glares at Bruce, but at the same time struggles to lift the punching bag with Bruce. Aiyanna moves in to help.

"Eep!" She says, her face strained.

Bruce gives a little chuckle. "It's okay Aiyanna...we can handle...I think...maybe…" He manages to say, as he and Loki lift the bag off the floor. In a minute, they were finally able to hook the heavy thing onto the hook. "Whew!" Bruce exclaims, wiping his forehead. Sweat is dripping already. "We hardly even started and I'm already tired out!" He breathes heavily, fanning his face.

Loki looked a little sweaty in the forehead as well. "What is this strange object before us, Banner?"

Bruce couldn't help but smile at the Asguardian's ignorance. It was strange for someone he once knew to be crazy having so little knowledge of their world. "It's a punching bag," Bruce answers, and slams his hand against it. It swings a little. "People use it to train, work out, or excercise. But people also use it to vent out anger. I don't prefer physically venting out my anger - but hey, people are different." Bruce looks at his two students.

"Aiyanna, do you want to try first?" He offers.

"Uhm, okay!" She says. Loki and Bruce step to the side. At first Aiyanna runs her hand on the punching bag, then steps a few paces back. She looks over to Bruce. "So...I just punch it?"

"Yeah."

"Is that okay?"

"Why else would it be called a _punching bag?_"

"That is a valid point," Loki adds on.

Aiyanna still looks uncertain. She takes a deep breath. "Okay." She draws back a fist, and smacks the bag. It barely moves from the hook. Aiyanna pauses, blinking. "I'm too weak." She pouts, crossing her arms.

Bruce laughs, as well as Loki who is chuckling lightly. "It doesn't matter if you're weak - go full out. Turn your anger into a passion. Let it drive you."

Aiyanna rolls up her sleeves and ties up her hair. "Okay, okay," She says, bouncing up and down in place with her fists in front of her. It was an awkward, incorrect fighting position that Bruce found a little funny and endearing. "HERE I GO!" She hollers, and slams her body into the punching bag, and started punching it like crazy.

"Yeah! Keep on going!" Bruce encourages. "Punch the lights out like John Cena!"

Loki gives him a funny look. _Oh yeah, he doesn't know who's John Cena and all. _

"Uhm, he's a wrestler. Some type of warrior like you Asguardians would consider?"

"Wrestling? What sort of job is that?"

"Well you see-"

"Wait."

"What is it?"

"I have seemed to have lost interest."

Bruce gives out a short laugh. "Haha, very sarcastic Logan." Loki only gives him another strange and puzzled look.

Aiyanna is still punching the bag with all of her might. She then slams her body once again into it. It swings completely, sailing off to the other side. "All right!" She yells, pumping her fist.

"Good job," Bruce calls out.

Aiyanna grins. Then the next moment, the punching bag comes swinging back, knocking Aiyanna off her feet. She falls flat on the mat. Bruce hisses. "Ouch." Aiyanna groans, rolling on her back.

"Are you alright child?" Loki calls out, peering over her. Bruce was once again surprised to hear concern in his voice for the little girl.

"Ow...ouchie ouchie ouchie," Aiyanna moans. Bruce helps her to her feet, and carries her over to the bench.

"Rest kid." He tells her, handing her a bottle of water. He turns to Loki. "All rightie. Your turn Logan."

Loki looks over to the punching bag. "I suppose it is almost like sparring." He decides aloud. He rolls up his sleeves, unbuttoning his collar. He goes into a professional fighting stance. Before Bruce can say 'Go' Loki starts beating the bag. Each punch swings the bag higher and higher. It looked as if it were about to fall off.

Yet the ex-supervillain seemed to be absorbed into it. Bruce never thought of him much as a physical fighter - he is an enemy that prefers to manipulate through his opponent's emotions and flaws. But he looked like a real righter, the way he punched the bag. As Bruce watched, he can see the rage surfacing. Loki's composed expression twists into something of an inhuman rage, as he beats the inanimate object. Each punch seemed to be saying, _This is for me, this is my rage, these are my thoughts_ as he hits the bag. When Bruce first met Loki, he sensed a wild, feral aura from the supervillain. A madness.

But no matter what, Loki seemed to keep a cocky, calm, and calculating demeanor. Hiding a smoldering anger that Bruce catches in his eyes. Scarily enough, Loki reminds Bruce of himself. From the few stories that Thor told him and the group about their childhood, Loki was one that is always quiet and calm. A smart and cunning trickster. One that can so easily mask his own emotions.

Bruce can easily imagine how Loki transformed into the madman he came to knew in the Battle of New York. He kept his rage bottled up. Like Bruce did. And then one day, it all comes out, forming into an ugly, ugly monster that ravages and destroy anything in its way. That's exactly what happened to both Bruce and Loki. Though their anger is handled quite differently - Bruce cannot control it and isn't aware of his actions when he turns into the Hulk. The scary thing about Loki was that he is completely rational and aware of the consequences in his rage. Which is what made Bruce easily decide that he is a psychopath.

Over this past hour, Bruce gets a different vibe from the exiled prince. That there are just so much layers to him - one moment, Bruce thinks that he has Loki all figured out, then the god of mischief pulls something out from his sleeve that made him rethink his thoughts of him. The supervillain was complicated, that was one thing for damn sure.

_CRASH!_

The punching bag falls off from the hook. It crashes on the floor, the sand spilling out on the map. Aiyanna gapes at Loki, hearing the punching bag fall. Loki's back is facing Bruce and Aiyanna, as he heavily breathes. "Another." Loki states simply, turning to Bruce.

Bruce can only give him an impressed look. For the next hour, Loki continues punching the bags. He destroyed four in that time frame. A record breaking Steve's. Aiyanna by this point is worn out, and falls asleep on the bench. Loki seemed drained out as well, when he leans on the wall gulping down water. Bruce watches him carefully. Though he has seen many sides to former villain, he still doesn't quite _trust_ him.

Loki notices his staring and gives him a faint scowl. Beads of sweat are forming on the side of his face. "What is it that you find so interesting to stare at, Banner?" He questions in a cold tone.

"The fact that you buttoned up your shirt wrong," Bruce counters. Loki glances down, seeing that Bruce is right.

"Quite the jester for one who is so desperate to fit in as a human." Loki snides. Bruce keeps his face indifferent, showing no reaction. Thor's brother would not get to his skin.

"Yes, quite strange isn't it?"

"Hmph."

"You know, you shouldn't be so hypocritical." Bruce says to Loki, as he wipes his glasses.

"Whatever do you mean?"

"I see it. I see that self loathing. The self hatred. The rage." Bruce gets up from his seat, pacing back and forth idly.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"And the self denial that the ugly part of yourself is not part of you," The scientist adds on, turning to him. This shuts Loki right up, the dark haired trickster looking away. "Yes, I can see it very well. You think yourself as a monster. That you're not good enough for anyone. Do you?"

Loki is silent at first. "Shut up." He growls.

"That's a yes then." Bruces decides. "And you keep this self loathing, hatred, rage all bottled up - until one day it just spills out and destroys everything."

"Please. I'm not like you where I harbor a savage beast." Loki snaps back.

"Well, not physically. But you have that monster of rage inside of you that you _can_ harbor - but the real scary part is, is that you _let_ it control you. You use your rage to intentionally destroy." Bruce looks into Loki's eyes. Loki avoids looking at his, as he turns away. "Even though I don't know you very well Loki, I can see all of that in you. In a way, you and I are alike, whether you like to face it or not," Bruce glances over to Aiyanna. She is sleeping soundly, oblivious to their conversation. "We're very alike. Which is why it made me want to help you."

"Help _me?_ Did I ask for your charity?" Loki spits out in spite.

"You really should stop that defensive mechanism you put up. Words may be your weapon, but you're only lying to yourself more." Bruce says flatly, hardly bothered by any of the insults that Loki gives him.

Loki's coldness seem to drop, as his eyes drop to the floor. "...So that's why."

"Why what?"

"That you are trusting me. Which is foolish."

"Trust? Oh please Loki, I don't trust you." Bruce frowns.

Loki gives him a confused look. "...Then why do you treat me so normally?"

Bruce cracks a smile. "Everyone deserves a dose of normalness. Where you're not treated as some sort of hero, villain, monster, or nobody - but a normal person like everyone else."

A thoughtful look crosses Loki's face. "It is..._nice._" He admits. "To be _normal._ To not be good or bad or a monster, but normal." Loki said the word 'normal' as if it were a cool drink of water.

Bruce nods in agreement. "Yeah. People would be surprised at the fact that superheroes and villains appreciate normalness. Besides the point, I don't trust you. Because I know that your relationship with Aiyanna is bound to end in disaster." Bruce says, getting right to the point. He looks over to the sleeping girl in concern. "Even if she nevers find out about who you_ really_ are, the day of your trial in Asgard will come. And let me tell you the for true certain fact - you will die by the hands of your people, I'm sorry to say."

Loki smiles crudely. "At least someone is a realist."

"And either way, somehow, you'll end up hurting the kid."

"Are you asking me to stay away from her? Because you cannot stop me from that privelege." Loki's expression darkens. Bruce shakes his head.

"As much as I think that the idea of you two spending time together, in general, is a horrible idea, I can't stop you. It's your choice." Bruce leans back, stretching. Loki stares at him.

"So you do trust me."

"No I don't, how many times do I have to say so?"

"Then tell me Banner, what do you trust in me?" Loki asks looking at him in interest.

Bruce pauses. He sits up, and looks straight into Loki's eyes. "I trust in your rage." Surprise flashes across the place face of Loki. "It's because when I look into you, you remind me so much of me of what I used to be, it scares the crap outta me. Back then when I had to deal with the Hulk, I was afraid of myself. I hated myself. I wanted to shut others out. But some people helped me out of those dark days." Tony and Betty immediately come to his mind when he says this. "I see a bit of my old self in you. And I want to fix it. It's not fitting living a life with that type of mindset."

"Touching." Loki sits down on the bench next to Bruce. "Then I supposed you are my ally, in a backwards sort of way."

"Guess so."

The two sit in silence for a minute. Should Bruce offer it? For the heck of it. "You can always talk to me about your anger." Bruce drops it. Loki raises his head, raising an eyebrow. He opens his mouth to probably to retort Bruce's offer with a snide sarcastic comment - but shuts his mouth. He looks away and gives a small, stiff nod. Bruce smiles, satisfied.

* * *

**A/N: Yeah, I enjoyed writing that. Man, this is a long chapter! Reviews please!**


	15. To Be Fighting

**A/N: Hey reviewers, I'm going to try something new when I reply to you. I'll just put your username and write my reply - copying and pasting your reviews take up some space in my chapters. XD **

queenImno:

**For some reason, I really enjoyed writing that chapter between them. When I compared Loki and Bruce I was like: Heeeeyyyyyyyy there's a connection! And I knew in a way Bruce would see himself in Loki. Don't worry, Aiyanna's cut won't be that much of a big deal… (though I might not guarantee that promise…) That's okay! I really really like long reviews left by my reviewers! I love reading your detailed thoughts! **

fan-de-carlisle-cullen:

**As much as I love reading your reviews and thoughts, I would like to make some arguments against your case. First of all, Bruce would consider Loki a psychopath. It is a true fact that in our world, Loki is classified a sociopath. But I wrote the last parts of the chapter in Bruce's perspective. From the Battle of New York, I'm very sure that Bruce would view him that way, despite the fact that Loki has the capacity to feel empathy and love. **

**Second of all, once again, from the looks of it Loki's punishment is very likely to be execution by Asguardians. Bruce analyzed the whole situation and deducted it to the most likely result - Loki is most likely to die by the hands of his people. Remember, in **_**Thor the Dark World**_**, Odin was perfectly willing to kill off Lok, but what stopped him was Frigga. **

**Also, I highly doubt that Fury will try to defend Loki. Loki is not the most valuable asset right now - he is at low power and he has no interest to part take in defending Midgard. Most of all, Loki is an intergalatic criminal - remember the Chitauri, Asguardians, and Frost Giants? Yeah, they're all after him, so if Fury refuses to hand Loki over, Earth will be challenged to war. :p But you may be right about the theory of Aiyanna and the others…**

**Third of all, my last argument, Pepper and Tony are human beings, despite them being fictional characters. They have their flaws and negative character traits, of course they're going to make mistakes and they won't be the perfect parents at first. They're very new to this responsibility, and if you expect that they will jump right into the parent roles, well, they won't be the Pepper Potts and Tony Stark we know and love, right? **

**As for Aiyanna calling Pepper 'Mommy' seeming too artificial, you said this yourself - she is an orphaned little girl that is very confused and desperate for a parent figure. Of course she'll bond and attack so quickly to Pepper. She's a **_**child. **_**Sorry if I sound too defensive in my reply - holy guacomole it is LONG. XD **

**`Don't worry, I'm not angry or anything - just want to make an argument to some of your theories. X3 Though I still find your reviews to be quite interesting and thought provoking - keep on doing what you're doing! **

caramelkitkat:

**ALL OF THE FEELS! Funny enough, I don't want to go to the bathroom when I hear water sounds. o3o **

TheOneAndOnlyGoddessofAwesome:

**You know it! **

coolguest:

**Everyone is dreading the moment when Aiyanna finds out the horrible fact that Logan is Loki...but I for one, am looking forward to it. I'm a sadistic bastard aren't I?**

person D:

**Thank you very much! I imagine that Loki's and Bruce's relationship would go that way…**

Guest:

**Don't worry, I'm determined to finish this story! DETERMINED I TELL YOU! I absolutely won't abandon this… (there's just the possibility that I might this story for like a month and then update by then XD It's a bad habit. Just look at my other fics.)**

literaturelife7:

**I decided to be nice to Bruce and not have any water spilled/spewed on him in last chapter. (At least for now…) Bruce's and Loki's conversation is inspired from Thor's and Loki's conversation from the movie, 'Thor the Dark World.' That movie was great - so much Loki Sass! XD**

* * *

"**Whenever we want to combat our enemies, first and foremost we must start by understanding them rather than exaggerating their motives." **

– _**Criss Jami**_

* * *

**~Chapter Fifteen~**

Tony felt a sense of pride in himself - he managed to make four improved versions of his Iron Man Suit with eight days. Wasn't he an awesome genius? He takes another sip of coffee, relishing the surge of caffeine surging through his head, waking him up a little. He didn't sleep the past thirteen hours. Sometimes he would take a ten minute nap - but the nightmares and flashbacks from the Battle of New York or the death of Pepper would come to haunt him.

He couldn't help but feel a little foolish and afraid of a few dreams conjured up from his wild imagination - but they serve as reminders to him. Giving out a little sigh and stretching his back, Tony decides to rest for a moment. He closes his eyes. Redirecting the nuke into the wormhole was the most terrifying experience ever. It was one of the many moments in Tony's life where he was closest to death. Back in that very moment, he felt as if he was _really_ about to die…

And Tony had to say, he did not enjoy that feeling. The feeling knowing that he will never see Pepper again and that he was going to die without ever trying a shawarma…

Tony's eyes flash open, before he recounters the memory where he went into the wormhole. Damn. He almost doze off. The billionaire takes another swig of coffee, grabbing his trusty drill. Back to work…

"Sir, Miss Potts is requesting to see you immediately," JARVIS reports.

"I'm busy…" Tony mutters back, examining Iron Man suit number three. Hm, it could have a backup energy generator…

"May I add on that she is very, as I may try to say it politely, thoroughly pissed and impatient at this point."

Tony sighs, setting down his drill. "Well that can't be good. Looks like I'm gonna get an earful. Let her in."

Once Tony commands this, the door swings open revealing Pepper. She walks in, her face devoid of any good will or smile. "How long were you up this time?" Is the first thing she asked.

Tony scratches the back of his head. "Eh, thirteen hours. A new record, am I right?" He grins. Pepper does not grin back, and instead punches his chest. "Oof! Careful there!" Tony says, rubbing over the place where the Arc Reactor is. "What did I do now?"

"Pepper does a double take. "'What did I do now?' Tony, how more dense can you be?" Pepper says, pulling at her hair. She sighs, seeing the clueless look on Tony's face. "It's Aiyanna." She says to him. "Tony, if you want to be a parent - if _we_ want to be parents, we're not doing a very good job at it." Pepper states, leaning against the wall, her hand to her forehead. Tony can now see the frustration and weariness in his girlfriend.

He brushes some hair out of her face, taking her hand. "What, what's the problem with the kid? She can't be unhappy, she's living in a high class tower and whatnot."

Pepper gives another frustrated sigh, breaking out of Tony's grasp. "Tony - you just don't get it, do you?" She shakes her head. "You cannot make a kid happy by leaving her in our home, no matter how high class it is." Pepper walks over to a chair and plops down on it. "Do you know what happened today? Aiyanna yelled at me." She shakes her head, vexation and puzzlement on her face. "She snapped. And I don't blame her."

"What do you mean?" Tony asks, dubious.

"_Tony_," Pepper says more forcefully this time. "Get it through your head. Aiyanna is not happy with us. Just as we guessed, we're never there for her, we're not being good parents, we're not being responsible, she's not learning anything from us!" Pepper listed up, getting more worked up as she talks. Tony slips behind her and holds her in a hug.

"Then I guess we should send her to school now. What has she been doing all this time? Poor kid must've been bored out of her mind, since she can't really play video games…"

Pepper sighs. "I've...I've let her seen Loki all week."

"Say what now?"

"I know, I know," Pepper moans. "I've been too dependent on him for keeping Aiyanna company which is wrong of me - if a certain someone has been doing his job." She eyes Tony.

He raises his hands defensively. "I'm sorry...I mean...if I would've known…"

"The damage is done." Pepper rubs her forehead. "The least we can do is spend time with Aiyanna. Do your job as a CEO. We both need to actually spend time with Aiyanna - she can't live like this!" She exclaims.

Tony's gaze trails off to the versions of his new Iron Man suits. His mind was screaming, _keep on working, keep on working, you haven't perfected this yet!_ "Peps…"

"No. I'm putting my foot down." Pepper cross her arms. "I can deal with you doing this kind of thing, disappearing on me," Tony winces at that fact. " - But we have a kid living under our roof. An orphaned little girl. She needs her new parents, we cannot just keep on depending and counting on others to take care of her!" Pepper says, pacing back and forth. Never before had Tony seen Pepper this stressed. This is serious. Pepper faces Tony once again.

"Enough is enough Tony." She says, looking him straight in the eye. "Aiyanna is done waiting for you. Come back into our life. Stop working on this _project." _Pepper raises a scrap of metal, setting it back down.

Tony gives out a little sigh, and stares up at the ceiling. He squeezes his eyes. "_Okay._ Okay Peps - I promise. Tell you what, I'll come out to eat dinner with you guys."

"Cross your heart?"

"Cross my Arc Reactor," Tony gives a lopsided smile, drawing an X on his chest. This gets a little chuckle out of Pepper. He moves in to give her a kiss, but she dives out of the way. "Awww, come on!" Tony whines like a little kid who didn't get any candy. Pepper turns her back to him.

"You're not forgiven yet. You'll be forgiven when I see you at the dinner table." She says, before walking out of the workshop. Tony sighs, leaning back. Such a woman.

* * *

The look on Aiyanna's face is the definition of surprise when Tony announced to her that he was going to eat dinner with them. He catches an excited smile on her face for a moment - but it vanishes just as quickly as it appeared. She turns away, closing her eyes and jutting out her lip. "It's about time." She states, crossing her arms across her little chest in a childish manner. Tony gives a small chuckle at Aiyanna's attitude. Maybe the snarkiness will run in the family.

Dinner is mashed potatoes, roasted beef, and green peas. Though Pepper's and Tony's plates are filled with the food, Aiyanna's plate is not. Instead, there are chicken nuggets. _What is her obsession with eating those things?_ Tony wondered to himself. He noticed that it was the only thing that Aiyanna accepted to eat. _Is she still honestly eating that?_ Tony frowns to himself. "You don't want to eat any roasted beef?" Aiyanna quickly shakes her head, taking a bite out of a nugget. "Have you been eating nuggets for the whole week?"

"Yeah. What's your problem with that?" Aiyanna shots defensively, staring down at her plate with an angry look on her face.

"Nothing, nothing." Tony looks over to Pepper, wondering what he did wrong again. She only gives a small nod as if to say, _Keep pushing on. _"Besides, I wish I had that privelege. If I can eat shawarma everyday if given the choice, I would take it!" Tony jokes half heartedly. Aiyanna doesn't even smile. She bites her bottom lip and only continues eating in a stony silence. The smile fades from Tony's face as well. What is wrong here?

As the three eat in silence, Tony notices that Aiyanna's right hand is wrapped in gauze. Where did that came from? "Aiyanna," He says, wiping his mouth. "Where'd you get the cut from?"

"From falling on glass. Bruce fixed it." She replies, and continues eating as if it were no big deal.

A concerned look flashes across Pepper's face. "Are you hurt? Is any glass stuck in there?" She asks anxiously, setting down her fork.

"No, I'm okay." Aiyanna nods at Pepper, giving a small smile of reassurance. Tony is baffled. _Is Pepper magic or what, because Aiyanna is being icy to me as if it were the Cold War. _

"Where'd you get it in the first place?" Tony questions.

Aiyanna is quiet for a moment. "From Logan's place?"

Tony pauses. A deadly thought crosses his mind. "Aiyanna...did...he hurt you?" He asks carefully.

An indignant look forms on the little girl's face. "Why would you say that? Logan wouldn't hurt me! He's so nice!" She retorts, defensive.

"Cool down!" Tony exclaims. "I was just...a little concerned."

Aiyanna puffs her cheeks out. "Then how come you never spend time with me?"

"My work is important kid."

"More important than me?"

"Where the heck did you pull that card out from?"

"Please!" Pepper suddenly interrupts their heated discussion, loudly setting down her glass of water. She breathes out, closing her eyes. "Just...please. Let's not fight." She looks over to Tony. "Don't worry Aiyanna, Tony didn't mean to say it so bluntly. Right Tony?" Tony frowns at Pepper. She gives a stern look. He stabs his fork into his roasted beef.

"Yeah, sure."

Aiyanna sticks her tongue out at him. Pepper gives her a stern look as well. "Now Aiyanna, don't do something like that."

The girl sits back in her chair, pouting. Pepper puts both of her hands to her head. Tony couldn't help but feel sorry for her that the fact that their family dinner wasn't going so well. "Tell me Aiyanna, what did you do the past week? I'm sure that Tony would be very interested to hear." Pepper says, attempting to change the subject.

Aiyanna's face lights up when Pepper says this. Tony felt himself scowling. It was the same look she uses when she talks about her father…Tony braces himself, as he listens to Aiyanna retelling stories about her time with Saint Logan as Tony would put it. He would read Aiyanna stories, tell her awesome legends, listen to her, play interesting trivia games with her - wow, since when did Loki became an expert replacement parent? Tony thought to himself sarcastically.

He feels himself tighten his hands. For some reason, he didn't like the way Aiyanna talked about Loki. Wait - is he? - no, no, no! HA, Tony Stark _jealous _of Loki? Please. Not a damn chance in hell. Tony strokes his beard. "Well ain't that sweet of Logan." He states, leaning on his hand. Pepper looks over to him, her gaze suspicious.

"Aiyanna, don't you think you're spending a little too much with Logan?"

This statement immediately makes everyone freeze. Aiyanna's hands are shaking, her face a little red. Tony looks at her, puzzled. Her head snaps up. "What does that mean? I can spend all of my time with Logan if I want! At least _he_ listens to me." Tony glares at Aiyanna. In a way, she reminded him a lot of himself when he was her age. Indignant, rude, stubbourn…

"That isn't what he meant!" Pepper jumps in. "_Right_ Tony?"

"Yeah. Can I get some wine from the cabinet?"

"In your dreams."

The three all sit in an awkward silence for another five minutes. Tony decides to bring school up. "Aiyanna, Pepper and I have been thinking - you need to go to school now."

Aiyanna furrows her eyebrows. "I don't want to."

Tony feels his temper flare. "Well you need to, unless you want to be a homeless bum off the street."

"Tony!" Pepper says, kicking him in the shin.

"Oof! What, it's the truth!"

"I don't want to go to school!" Aiyanna cries out, not budging from her decision.

"Why not?" Tony asks, breathing out.

Aiyanna is silent for a moment, an angry look on her face. "Because I never went to school," She says quietly. "I was homeschooled by daddy. He was a great teacher." Pepper and Tony both go quiet. Tony picks at his peas. Aiyanna just had to bring up the 'd' word… "Why can't I just be homeschooled by Logan or Bruce? Or by Tony?" She questions.

Pepper puts a hand on hers. "Sweetie, you know we can't do that."

Aiyanna draws away her hand from hers, and turns her head away. "Yeah. Because you two always have to work."

"So you understand," Tony says, starting to get frustrated. "That means you need to go to school."

"You can't make me. I don't _want_ to!' Aiyanna says, her voice raising. "Why can't you homeschool me? Why can't you be like daddy?" She shoots at them, at the point of yelling.

That's it. Tony has reached his point. He smacks his fork down. "Look, you can't expect Pepper and I to be like your dad, okay? Unless we're freak clones, which we're not, we can't be like your dad!" He shouts. "Look, I'm trying Aiyanna, I'm trying!" He says, getting up from his seat. "What do you want me to do? Tell you fairytales and play dollhouse with you?" He fumes.

Aiyanna glares at him. "You're not trying hard enough then! You can't even try to act like daddy?!" She screams. With that, she scrambles out of her chair and runs into their bedroom, slamming the door. Tony and Pepper stare off, speechless.

"What? What?" Tony sputters. "What the hell just happened?"

Pepper just shakes her head, putting her hands to her head. Tony rubs her back. Well, dinner is definitely ruined.

* * *

Aiyanna dives into the covers. She punches the pillows repeatedly and repeatedly. What came over her? She thought that the anger as out of her system. But it's back, like a rushing flood, taking over her. She wished that the pillow was a punching bag. It would've been much more satisfying. Her cheeks are suddenly wet. Aiyanna blinks, her hand reaching up to them. Water is on her face?

More water pours out from her eyes. Aiyanna grasps the bedsheet covers. Soft, silky. She thought that she was better. She thought that she was ready. A sob escapes Aiyanna. What is with these confusing, overwhelming feelings? They are all over the place - for a moment, after she spent some time with Bruce and Logan, she _almost_ forgotten what she felt sad about. Almost. But it wasn't enough.

Aiyanna cries harder. It was so stupid, what she was crying over. She didn't want to go to school because she wanted to be homeschooled. Stupid. Her daddy would've told her off. Aiyanna feels her body shake when she thought of her daddy. Will her longing ever go away?

_Knock, knock, knock._

Aiyanna keeps her face muffled in the sheets as she cries.

"_Aiyanna?"_ Pepper's muffled voice through the door asks. Honey yellow swirls around in Aiyanna's head, Aiyanna feeling slightly comforted when she sees the familiar colors. "_Aiyanna, please let us in."_

"No!" Aiyanna yells. "Go away!"

She hears some murmurs from the door. "_Okay...just...be okay Aiyanna."_ Pepper says. And with the sound of heavy footsteps walking away from the door, they are gone. Aiyanna's crying eases into a softer tone. Her throat is scratchy. Dry. Aiyanna puts her hands to her face. She wanted to see her father. For one last time...An idea pops in Aiyanna's head. She _can _see her father…

Aiyanna creeps out of the door, and raises her ears to the air. She clicks her tongue. Hm. Pepper and Tony aren't in the kitchen anymore. A few warbled sounds go off in her left. That's where the workshop is. Pepper and Tony must be in there. Perfect. The little girl tip toes off to the elevator. She was going to see her father.

* * *

**A/N: What does this mean? Hm...who knows? **


	16. To Be Missing

**A/N: You people made such wild assumptions as to what Aiyanna was going to do last chapter. I find them so entertaining because all of them are wrong. XD**

Paula Galtarocha:

**I figured that Thor will be confused and befuddled as to why Aiyanna is able to get through Loki. Don't worry, I'll show some input on his thoughts about Aiyanna and Loki in later chapters. Thanks for the review!**

SilverShadowWolf46:

**No, unfortunately not. X( She said that she was going to "see" her father for one last time…**

person D:

**Thank you! Though I don't own the Avengers or Loki (sadly), I'm really fascinated by their characters. And I wasn't really trying to antagonize Tony is the last chapter - nobody was the bad guy last chapter. It's just the matter of human reactions and emotions. **

fan-de-carlisle-cullen:

**Aw, everyone think Tony's the bad guy. He's just a guy who's said the wrong stuff and can be a little insensitive, I don't think of him a bad parent - just irresponsible. You see, since Aiyanna is a kid in the stages of grief, there are some situations where she'll overreact - which is what I tried to do in the last chapter. Don't worry, Aiyanna is going to do anything drastic… (at least not TOO drastic.)**

Lady Syndra:

**Yep, grief can be quite the driving thing - so self destructive and painful. I can't imagine what it will feel like for me…**

TheOneAndOnlyGoddessofAwesome:

**S-suicide? Hahahha, oh that's rich! X,D You don't need to worry about Aiyanna doing THAT - she's a kid, so I'm sure that's the last thing on her mind. **

Psy Koteek:

**Stated in earlier chapters, Aiyanna's condition is 'Synesthesia,' and it's perfectly real. Quoted from Wikipedia: It is a neurological phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. Basically its a condition that mixes up the five sense - like when a person hear the sound of a car, they see the color blue. Synesthesia can vary in people. Aiyanna happens to have the type where she can see colors when she hears sounds, not only when people talk. **

caramelkitkat:

**Eh, no, Aiyanna doesn't view 'Logan' as a father, and she definitely isn't going to him, I'm sorry to report. Just read the chapter and see how it works out. ;)**

.9:

**Hm, I was wondering where you were, glad you're back! :D**

literaturelife7:

**Wow, what an observation! Funny enough, in this chapter, it starts off with Loki reading 'Hamlet...' Are you a sorcerer? XD**

anonymous:

**Well, yeah, you're right, she's not gonna see Loki - all she wants right now is to see her father. Whatever that means. You'll find out as you read on. **

Luna:

**Aw, thank you, you flatter me! XD**

Guest:

**Here's yo update! X3**

anonymous:

**Hahaha, I'm sorry to say, as much as that will be cute, it won't happen. :(**

* * *

**"That's how you know you love someone, I guess, when you can't experience anything without wishing the other person were there to see it, too." **

― _**Kaui Hart Hemmings, The Descendants**_

* * *

**~Chapter Sixteen~**

Loki sits on a new couch, quietly reading the works of Shakespeare, lent from the scientist. The mortal also had the good graces to help Loki clean up some of the mess. They ordered some new furniture and cleaned up some of the mess lying around the floor - but it still looked a little wrecked. Not that Loki cared that much. But Banner wasn't half bad anymore in his standards…

'_To be, or not to be...'_ He reads a line from Hamlet. So far he found the play quite fascinating. He couldn't help but relate to the main character of the play…a character who thinks he is destined for greatness, the promise of the king's throne. Then he spirals into madness as each action after the next causes more grief and tragedy...how relatable and pitiful.

_Ding!_ Goes the elevator. Loki glances up from his book. He looks over to the clock. 5:57. Who would visit him at this hour? He looks back over to the elevator is - and is surprised to see that his visitor is none other than the patriot hero, Steve Rogers.

"Why are you here, Rogers?" Loki raises an eyebrow, closing the book.

Steve shrugs, acting nonchalant. Yet a hint of a tiny smile curves on his lips. "So I heard that Bruce took you and Aiyanna to the gym."

"Yes."

"And that you broke my record of breaking four punching bags in five minutes." Steve pauses. "I'm no therapist, but to lightly put it, you have anger issues."

"I have been told." Loki says dryly.

"Hm." Steve tugs at the collar of his shirt. "Wanna go to the gym to punch out more bags?"

"And why would you want me to be there with you?"

Steve shrugs. "Well, I kind of want to beat your record. And it'd be nice to have a gym buddy I suppose-"

"How noble." Loki rolls his eyes.

Steve blinks. "What?"

"How noble of you to welcome the prisoner with open arms." Loki states blandly. "Honestly Rogers, what do you really want from me?" He says, suspicion rising out of his voice.

A befuddled look appears on Steve's face. "Uhm...well," A grin breaks out on his face. "I made a bet with Clint that I can beat your record - if I don't, Clint is going to use my shield as a frisbee." This gets a snort out of Loki. Steve frowns, but is half-smiling as well. "So that's why I'm asking." His eyes drop to the book in Loki's lap. "So you are the reader type of guy. I figured. You know, you can get books from a library around here, right?"

Loki scoffs. "In Asgard, there are libraries too, you know." Immediately, a pang goes out in Loki's chest when he speaks of his home. Right now, Asguardians are in a bloody war against the Chitauri and Frost Giants...the libraries must be ruined now. Buildings, villages, lives...Loki must have zoned out, because Steve was trying to say something to him. "What did you say?" He asks.

Steve gives him a hesitant look. "The Avengers and I heard about the war back in your home planet." He pauses. "You know, Thor disappeared on us earlier this day. He just barged onto the roof and called for this person 'Heimdall' and disappeared in a flash." Loki feels himself clenching his hands. Thor left him. He lets out a little chuckle. Why did he feel so...abandoned? _Hurt?_ He should be happy. But that didn't change how Loki felt nevertheless.

It wasn't fair that Thor gets to go back to Asgard to fight and defend their kingdom with comrades. _And most of all, Odin and Frigga…_ Loki thought.

"Believe it or not, Earth has gone through a lot of war as well."

Loki raises his head. "It has? You mean that others before me have tried to usurp Misgard?" He questions, frowning.

The blonde haired gives out a dry laugh. "No." He gazes out of the window. The sky is turning dark, into night time. But there are stormy looking thunder clouds gathering above. "Wars here in Earth are usually fought among us humans."

Loki is puzzled by this. What sort of planet has its inhabitants fighting among themselves? It wasn't taboo that war is fought among other realms in Loki's world - but among your own people? It was absurd to think of. "Why would you Midguardians fight among yourselves? Aren't you suppose to be united?"

"It isn't as easy as you think for us humans." Steve shakes his head. "I mean, I wish it were that simple, for us humans to live in peace. If life forms from outer space can accomplish it, why can't we?" Steve gives out a sigh, Loki seeing a pained expression. "Unlike your world, where it's ruled by one person, it's different here on Earth. Humans are so diverse and different - we're hard to control. We have diverse ideas, opinions, religions, and morals - none of us are the same. Though I consider the freedom of being able to speak out your opinions and thoughts, there is a heavy price to it. Sometimes other people will disagree with your opinions, and then start a fight. Which is what happens in countries. That's what causes so much war back then." Steve's eyes go glassy with memory.

Loki listens on, a little uncomfortable. It was strange to listen to the thoughts of what used to be his enemy. Nevertheless, Loki found it a little intriguing as well. "That is a shame," Loki comments quietly. "I think that Midgard would be stronger if all of you mortals actually bother to overcome your differences and work together. Then you wouldn't be so weak."

Steve nods grimly. "I know. We so effortlessly kill off each other over such stupid things when we can be working together." Steve runs his hand over his face. "Even though the world I used to know has changed and became a little, it's hard to believe that there is still war being fought out there in Earth and beyond Earth."

"Indeed." Loki suddenly remembers Aiyanna's opinion on war. _"Why do you think grown-ups have to fight in silly wars all of the time?"_ Is what she said. Her childish idealism doesn't seem quite so childish anymore to Loki. It seemed to hold some wisdom. At some point, everyone, child or adult, will wonder something like this. _Why bother to fight?_

The glassy memory look fades from Steve's face. "So, do you want to head to the gym?"

"I suppose so."

_Ding!_ Goes the elevator. Steve and Loki turned to look, both surprised to see Pepper. A panicked look is on her face, as her eyes flit around the area.

"Hi guys," She waves to them, a smile breaking on her face, but not genuine. Nervousness is set in it. "By chance did Aiyanna come down here…?"

"No. Why do you ask?" Steve replies.

"Oh god." Pepper covers her face. "She just disappeared from our room - she isn't anywhere in our floor, nor in the Avengers. Tony and I don't know where she is!" She says, franticness in her eyes.

"That's bad. What's Tony doing?"

"He's checking surveillance and the other floors…"

Alarm raises in Loki. "How could you just let a little girl go out of your sight?" He questions in an accusing tone. "And most of all, she's blind for Hel's sake. She could not have gotten that far. What sort of parent are you?"

Pepper's eyes flashes angrily. "It's complicated. Family matters." She says curtly to him.

"Uh, do you need help finding her, Pepper?" Steve suddenly asks, an uncomfortable look on his face from being in the middle of their heated exchange.

"Y-yes. Yeah, that'll be appreciated." She breathes out, closing her eyes.

"Okay." Steve glances over to Loki, a look of guilt on his face. "...Guess that going to the gym has to wait, huh?"

Loki nods, opening the book. He masks an indifferent expression on his face - he didn't care. He clearly has no right to share the concern over the child. To help them in finding her. His teeth gritted at the thought of the little girl ending up hurting herself or getting into trouble - he has grown so fond of the child. He stares off absently at the words on the paper page, as Pepper and Steve head out of his floor, leaving him all alone without a moment's hesitation.

* * *

Aiyanna is all alone in the graveyard. Whatever graveyard she is in. It was easy getting out of Stark Tower. She was able to ask a chauffeur to take her to the nearest graveyard in New York - he was so nice. It only took about twenty minutes to drive to the graveyard, the ride was pretty fast. His name was so funny, 'Stony' it was. She didn't even have to pay for his service, though showed a little concern in Aiyanna. She just replied that she was going to meet her father in front of the graveyard - she wasn't really lying, was she? Though Stony was reluctant to leave her at first, he finally left. And now she is all alone.

She clicks her tongue, as she runs her hand along the gates of the graveyard, trying to find the entrance. She wasn't even sure if this was the graveyard where her daddy was buried in - but it was worth a shot anyway. The unearthly silence and and calm in the air made Aiyanna feel a little scared. The place was so absent of life and sounds - occasionally she would hear the sounds of a car driving by, or the squawks of a bird, but overall, it was completely silent here.

Aiyanna recalls the loud, boisturous settings of the urban areas. It is never silent back there. Always warm and so full of sounds that Aiyanna can hear...here, there is nothing.

_Pit patter pit…_ Aiyanna suddenly hears. She glances up. Drops. Drops of water. Suddenly, Aiyanna is drenched. It's raining. She bites down her lip. She hopes that it isn't a thunderstorm. _KABOOM!_ Aiyanna whimpers. It is. Her hand finally finds an opening in the gates. The entrance. Bracing herself, Aiyanna enters, ready to search for her daddy.

* * *

Tony was sure that Aiyanna didn't get too far. The kid was probably still angry at him, and she's hiding somewhere just to throw some kind of hissy fit. Yeah that's right, nothing bad is happening to her, nothing bad...He feverishly looks over surveillance and called workers in the many floors of Stark Tower to ask if Aiyanna was spotted. Nothing. He finally checks the surveillance in the elevator - at precisely 5:33 p.m, Aiyanna arrived on the elevator and went all the way down to the lobby.

He works from there. Studying the surveillance from the lobby, Tony felt his heart sank when he sees Aiyanna wandering out of the lobby to the outside. _God damnit. _He thought rubbing his face. "JARVIS, were there any accidents outside of Stark Tower?" Tony asked. As much as he didn't want to ask it, he knew he had to.

"No sir." JARVIS replies without a beat. Tony sighs out loudly in relief.

"Thank god."

"Looking at footage from city security cameras, I can inform you that Aiyanna went into a car."

"Wait, what?" Tony sits up, alarmed.

"Do not worry sir, I assure you, Aiyanna has taken one of your chauffeurs to receive a ride."

Tony huffs. "Honestly JARVIS, I'm nearly on the verge of getting a heart attack." At that moment, Pepper and Steve walk in.

"Tony, did you find anything?" Pepper asks anxiously.

"Well yeah. But you're not gonna like it," Tony says hesitantly. "Aiyanna wandered out of Stark Tower and took a cab to who knows fucking where."

"My god." Pepper puts a hand to her forehead. She starts breathing fast. "What if something bad happens to her?"

Tony pretends to not hear this question. "Don't worry, everything is gonna be fine…"

"Do you have any idea where Aiyanna would head off in the first place?"

"I don't know! How the hell can I know since I'm not really her dad?" Tony says, his voice raising. Damn it, was he really panicking? He was.

Thankfully, Steve is the only one in the room who kept a cool head. "Well, think about Tony. Does she say anything about a place where she really wanted to go?"

"She said that she wanted to see her father again." Pepper suddenly says.

"Okay, we're getting somewhere," Steve nods encouragingly.

"What, are you saying that Aiyanna is going to throw herself off a bridge?!" Tony snaps, his hands flying up in a fit of frustration and anxiety.

"_Don't_ say that!" Pepper says to him, looking more worried than ever. "She's goddamned ten years old Tony, a girl her age should not have those kind of thoughts!"

"Calm down!" Steve says in a stern voice, breaking their little quarrel. "If we're going to deal with this, we can't panic. At least try our best." He glances over to Tony. "Maybe you shouldn't look at this so literally Tony…"

"Do you have a better idea Capsicle?" Tony says, grabbing a fistful of his hair. "I don't know what she goddamned means when she wants to see her daddy - wait." A calculating look forms on his face. "Maybe we should look at this literally. In general, kids are literal, right? So if she wants to see her father again…" Tony snaps his fingers, clearly connecting the dots. "EUREKA BITCHES!" He yells, swiveling his chair around.

Steve and Pepper can only glance over to each other, a little confused.

* * *

It's cold. Wet. And scary.

Aiyanna shivers, her teeth chattering as the rain pelts down on her with an unforgiving force. From tombstone to tombstone, Aiyanna has tried searching for her father. She knows that her father's tombstone has braille on it - something that he would request for her sake. But so far none of these tombstones have it…

Mud sloshes below Aiyanna's shoes. Some of it seeps into them, her feet now wet and squishy. She wished she had rain boots. And an umbrella. And a nice, warm coat. It's too late anyway. Thunder crashes overhead. A sharp sickly electric blue color strikes Aiyanna's mind. Aiyanna jumps, shaking. She really really hated thunderstorms.

The wind howls in the background, blowing violently through the trees above Aiyanna. They sounded like the moans and groans of a ghost. Aiyanna shivers recalling some scary legends that her daddy told her about sometimes around Halloween. Legends about ghosts and lost wandering spirits that would drag a person away to a dark, scary place…Aiyanna feels herself shiver even harder when she remembers the fact that she's wandering around in a graveyard where dead people are buried below her everywhere.

She squeezes the necklace that her Grandmamma gave her around her neck. She has been wearing it ever since from the funeral, but hasn't filled it with three items yet. Aiyanna regrets this now. Maybe if she put the three objects into her necklace like her Grandmamma says, it will protect her in some sort of way. But the reason why Aiyanna didn't fill it, was because she wanted to ask her father what she should put in it. It's pointless because he can't answer back - but with all of her heart, Aiyanna wishes that she has some sort of way to _talk_ to her father, even if he won't answer back.

Regret surges through her like a torrent. There are so many things that she desperately wished she told him before he died and what's happening to her right now.

She never got the chance to tell him 'I love you.'

She never got the chance to tell him how much of a great daddy he is.

She never got the chance to say sorry for being such a bratty daughter on that night…

Aiyanna feels her eyes tear up. She was so mean to her daddy on that night...such a bad, naughty daughter. It was no fair, that she didn't even tell him sorry. No fair at all!

She starts running blindly, as she pushes thorny branches blocking her way, desperate to find her father. She wanted to tell him so much now. She wanted to tell him about Tony and Pepper, how they are good people and that they're going to take care of her. She wanted to tell him about Bruce, Steve, Natasha, and Clint. She wanted to tell him about Logan, how he tells such wonderful stories like he used to.

Aiyanna trips, falling flat in mud. She struggles up to her feet, the rain pouring even harder now, but only ends up falling flat again. Aiyanna gives up, leaning on a tree next to her. _So cold and lonely out here…_ She thought faintly to herself.

* * *

At first, Natasha was a little bit annoyed when Tony interrupted her daily workouts with Clint, when the two assassins would spar against each other testing out their skills and strength. But her annoyance softens when Tony informs that Aiyanna is lost in the city and that they needed all the help they could get. When they arrived at the surveillance room, it seems that everyone is there. Except for Thor that is...much to Natasha's and the team's dismay, he unexpectedly left them earlier in the day.

"How the heck could you lose a kid in the first place?" Is the first thing that Clint comments to Tony and Pepper.

"Hashtag long story." Tony replies, rolling his eyes at him.

"Why won't you get the police for this anyway?" Clint questions, a little cross that their training was interrupted as well.

Tony shrugs. "I don't want to cause any trouble and make the kid scared. Besides, the media is going to have a field day. Can you imagine the headlines? 'Tony Stark, child neglector.' And can you imagine how much people would hold Aiyanna ransom for some green cash money when they get their hands on her? A lot."

Pepper punches his arms, looking on the verge of hysterics. "Tony, you're scaring me!"

"Sorry Peps." He says apologetically to her.

"So what do you want us to do?" Natasha asks, interrupting their little exchange. Honestly, the two can have quarrels like an old married couple. If they ever _do_ get married, if that'll happen anytime soon. The whole time she has been listening closely to everything.

"I picked up some graveyard addresses nearby within New York City. Since Aiyanna has no idea where her dad is actually buried, she must've wandered to the nearest graveyard around here." Tony hands out scraps of paper to everyone.

Natasha reads her, managing to decipher Tony's messy writing. _72 E 1st St_

_New York, NY._ She slips it into her pocket, the address immediately memorized in her mind. "Got it."

Clint scowls at his scrap of paper. "Tony, you write shit."

"Shut up."

"Ain't an insult if it's the truth."

Natasha spins on her heel, not wasting anytime. A mission is given, it needs to be fulfilled.

* * *

Aiyanna feels a final sense of helplessness. It was stupid to come out here, all alone. She won't find her daddy. Even if she does, what happens then? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. It's not like those stories where the character goes on an epic journey to find someone or something and something magical happens giving everyone their happy ending - Aiyanna learned that happy endings did not exist a whole week ago.

She hugs her knees, shivering. The rain still pelts on, relentless, with the occasional sounds of thunder and lightning. Aiyanna squeezes her eyes shut. All she wanted now was to go home. To be in bed, in those nice warm silk blankets instead of the cold rain. She must look so dirty now. So dirty. Wasn't she wearing the sweater that her daddy gave her on her birthday? Made of her favorite material, wool. She loves the feeling of wool. So soft and fuzzy…

Tears finally pour out from Aiyanna. She has been crying so much lately, Aiyanna was afraid that all of the water might drain out of her body. Everything just seemed to be so bleak to her now. As Aiyanna thinks about it, how can she think of a future without her daddy? He won't be there when she gets good grades, or in her next birthday, Christmas, or Halloween. Everything now seems to hold a non-significant purpose to Aiyanna. They all seem so pointless without her daddy beside her to enjoy them with her.

Aiyanna's soft crying turns into a body racking one. Each sob shakes her bodies. And makes her nose even more clogged and runny. She was probably going to catch a cold after this. She just misses her daddy so much. It was like that time when he had to leave her with some friends when he had to go to the Amazon for research - he was gone for over two months. Aiyanna missed him fiercly. She scolded her daddy throughly when he returned, asking how could he dare leave her while he does off to an adventure.

Her daddy simply laughed, and promised to never leave Aiyanna.

_He broke his promise._ Aiyanna thought, now angry. So confusing. One moment she's so sad that, the next she is angry. She seemed to get upset over the littlest things now. Now feeling angry, Aiyanna suddenly receives the memory of her time with Logan and Bruce at the gym. It was so fun. It took out all of her anger. Aiyanna cries harder when she thinks of everyone back at Stark Tower. Tony and Pepper must be so worried, no, angry that she just left. Why can't she be a good kid? Aiyanna cries more, feeling that each breath she took that it hurt her lungs.

"Aiyanna? Is that you?" Bright, vivacious colors of red flash through Aiyanna's head. Is that Miss Scarlet? Natasha? She's here. Aiyanna shivers.

"Natasha?" She whispers.

"How long were you sitting out here? You're going to get sick." Natasha states. Warmth is suddenly draped across Aiyanna's shoulder. Aiyanna grasps at it. A jacket. It's so big and warm and comforting. But she's still crying. Why's that? Natasha helps Aiyanna to her feet. "That's real rash and stupid of you wandering out in the open like this. You're lucky that you didn't run into any bad people and what then? Pepper and Tony would never stop blaming themselves."

At this mention, Aiyanna starts wailing. Natasha sighs, sounding annoyed and weary. She puts a hand on her shoulder. "Stop crying. Now." She orders. Like some sort of spell, Aiyanna shuts up. Though she hiccups softly, as tears silently run down her face mixed with rain drops. _She's so scary. _Aiyanna thought. "Look...I'm not really good with kids and being comforting and mushy. In general, I'm not good with people." Natasha tells her. "Let me cut to it - remember what I said about the Avengers and I knowing lost?"

Aiyanna nods, wiping her face. "Well it's true. Aiyanna, a lot of other people lost their lives with your father on that day." Natasha says. "Many people are going through the same time like you. So think of that. You're not alone." She tells her simply. Aiyanna reaches her hand out to find Natasha's. She finally does, and puts her hand around hers. Natasha at first pulled away reactively - but lightly holds the tips of Aiyanna's fingers.

"Really? I'm not alone?" She whispers.

"You're not." Natasha replies. She then tugs Aiyanna, signaling for them to leave. Aiyanna obliges, letting Natasha lead her out of the park. She is put on top of something. Aiyanna cocks her head. A bike? Natasha sits in front of her, and puts something on top of Aiyanna's head. A helmet. Why is she wearing this?

"Tony, I found Aiyanna. I'm bringing her back." Natasha says, probably into a phone or something. "Kid. Hey. You might want to hold in to me." She warns as she straps Aiyanna down to the seat.

It clicks in Aiyanna's mind, as she tightly wraps her arms around Natasha. "We're on a motorcycle?"

"First time for everything. Don't forget to hang on." The engine explodes into life. Aiyanna winces in discomfort, seeing a muddy unpleasant shade of gray in her head. Though she enjoyed the speed of the motorcycle as she and Natasha rode off into what seems like a long road ahead.

* * *

**A/N: Haha. Natasha and Aiyanna moment. Ahhh Natasha and her anti-social awkward assasin-ness.**


	17. To Be Listening

**A/N: Sorry for the late update. Things might get a little out of order in updating from this point on - I'm really struggling to catch up on finishing summer homework. Ahh, procrastination, a beautiful yet torturing art.**

person D:

**Thank you! ^_^ That's what Fanfiction is all about - people go here to read the continuity and character interpretations from other writers. The beauty of it. **

CausticCottonballs:

**I figured that. I would love if he actually says that in a Marvel Movie...but hey, who knows?**

fan-de-carlisle-cullen:

**I didn't say that you said that he was a bad guy, I just said that statement out towards the general audience. X3 Yes, yes Loki does have his kids in this story...I'm not saying which ones though, I'll leave that up to you.**

caramelkikat:

**Oh really? JARVIS and Aiyanna interaction? Hmm, I won't really picture him the type to be a trickster sort of guy - he's more of a sassy sarcastic polite butler. XD**

Luna:

**Everyone seems to love the saying "Eureka bitches." XD Aw, but I suppose it is something that Tony is very most likely to holler at the most convenient moments. Loki is getting there with the Avengers, slowly but surely. **

coolguest:

**I am trying hard to include all of the Avengers in this fic. I don't want the fic only surrounding Aiyanna and Loki, or just Aiyanna in general. I want to incorporate the relationships between the canon characters rather than them just revolving around Aiyanna and Aiyanna only. That's what makes a good fic. ;) As for Clint, I'm trying to work best with his character - you don't get quite a lot of him from the movie. I'm glad that you think he's in character! **

literaturelife7:

**There will be quite a lot of references in this fic that has Loki relating to the characters or plot in some way. I just love making connections! **

Amelia Rosewald:

**Ah, thanks for giving the correction of the saying, it was at the tip of my tongue! I know, I know, I haven't had Clint interact with Aiyanna yet, but I'm getting there, patience. As much as Clint doesn't approve of their relationship, I don't think he'll be that much of a klutz to slip that 'Logan' is Loki. He's an assassin, remember? I won't be giving any hints whatsoever to Aiyanna about the true identity of Logan - because I'm just cruel like that. XD**

SilverShadowWolf46:

**Aiyanna didn't quite see her father - she went to the wrong cemetery. ;) Nevertheless, I'm glad that you liked last chapter despite the fact that there was no Loki/Aiyanna interaction.**

Sapphire Roz:

**Honestly, I think that you people predict everything I plan for this fic. Is my story THAT predictable? DX But, no, your theory is not exactly right…**

.9:

**Shucks, don't worry about it. I'm just glad that you're still around. ;)**

* * *

**"The death of someone **

**is like**

**reading a book,**

**yet**

**having it end, where it wasn't supposed to." **

― _**Cindy Vo Nguyen**_

* * *

**~Chapter Seventeen~**

Pepper planned to scold and ground Aiyanna first thing she sees her, then wrap her in a huge hug telling her to never do something like this again. But when Natasha and Aiyanna arrive back at Stark Tower, Pepper's anger and grudge she held against Aiyanna disappeared in a snap when she sees the state of Aiyanna. She looked so cold, the way she was shivering non-stop. Her clothes is covered and stained with mud and leaves. Her hair looks tangled and in desperate need of brushing. And most of all, her face is tear streaked her expression set in melancholy.

Natasha gently pushes Aiyanna towards Pepper and Tony, subtly nodding her head at Steve, Bruce, and Clint sitting at the living room. On cue, they all exit the floor into the elevator, words unspoken. This leaves the three alone. Tony looks uncomfortable seeing the state of Aiyanna. The first thing he states is, "Kid, you definitely are going in our bed without taking a shower." This does not earn a crack of a smile out of Aiyanna.

Pepper shoots him a disapproving glare. His eyes lower at her deadly look. "I mean...damn it Aiyanna, what in the hell were you thinking? Running away like that, that was pretty stupid." Pepper elbows him sharply in the ribs for his cue to probably stop talking. She embraces Aiyanna tightly, despite all of the mess on her. Pepper didn't care. All this girl needs is comfort and reassurance. Aiyanna hugs back.

"I'm sorry." She whispers to them, her voice barely audible. "Am I in trouble?"

"Well, yeah, definitely." Tony says, still quite miffed by Aiyanna's attempted misadventure.

"Besides the point," Pepper adds on. She brushes some hair off of Aiyanna's face. "The point us, Tony and I are relieved that you're safe and back home. Do you know what could've happened if Tony hadn't figured out where you were? What were you thinking?" Pepper rambles on in a fit of worry.

Aiyanna's face is set in shame. "A-all I just wanted to see was daddy." She mumbles. "That was really stupid, wasn't it?"

"It was just stupid of you to run off without asking." Tony comments. "Seriously kid, were you that angry at us? I can be be pretty insufferable, so if I rubbed you the wrong way…" Tony trails, off, scratching the back of his head. Pepper smiles proudly at him. It was not often that he would apologize first at hand.

"No. I wasn't angry at you - I'm just...really, really confused right now." Aiyanna says, an unsure look on her face as she tightly clenches Pepper's hand.

Pepper kneels in front of her, squeezing her shoulder tightly. "Aiyanna. You can tell us anything. Tell us how you feel - how we can compromise and make it better for you." She says a in a gentle, reassuring voice. Aiyanna's tense expression relaxes along with her shoulders. "First of all, we need to address what made you angry in the first place. Why don't you want to go to school?"

"Not like I blame you." Tony chimes in.

Aiyanna glances at them, a little hesitant. "Promise that you won't think it's stupid?"

"We promise." Pepper replies firmly.

Aiyanna bows her head. "I don't really have a lot of friends my age. Daddy and I always used to travel around the world for his research. He homeschool me every since I was a baby. He was a really good teacher too." Aiyanna explains. "I never really talk to other kids…" Aiyanna bites her bottom lip, her hands clenching up. "And if I go to school, I'll be different from everyone." She admits, her face a little afraid. "If I'm with normal kids, they might tease me for being blind." Aiyanna bows her head.

"I'm already different that I'm blind but...I'll be in a place where all of the kids have their parents. And I'll feel even more different." Aiyanna confesses. Pepper and Tony listen closely, and both exchange quick glances.

"Aiyanna...it's okay to feel like that." Pepper says. "You could've told us in the first place, and we would've understood. We would've compromised."

"Yeah kid. Besides, I know that feeling." Tony nods at Aiyanna. "When I was a kid, I was a freaking genius compared to everyone else - I was in higher grade levels than in ones that I'm actually supposed to be for my age as a kid. But because of my genius IQ, I was placed in the higher grades." Tony shrugs carelessly at the memories. "I was _different._ And to tell you the truth, it didn't feel so good no matter how much I told myself as a kid that I didn't need friends. Because before I met the Avengers and Pepper, I pretty much had no one." Tony admits. Pepper smiles warmly at him, taking his hand and squeezing it.

He cracks a smile and pecks her on the mouth. "Now, I'm not so forever alone. I can relate kid. Once or twice, we've all been there."

A curious expression is on Aiyanna's face. "Really Tony?"

"Yeah."

"Sooo does that mean that I don't get to go to school?" Aiyanna says hopefully.

Tony laughs. "Hahaha, nope. You're going to go." Aiyanna pouts. Tony sighs. "You know what? Let's make a deal. If you can survive a week here dealing with the Avengers and the lifestyle at Stark Tower without going crazy, I'll let you not go to school." Aiyanna's face brightens up. Pepper gives him a disapproving glare. Tony winks at her, a mischevious glint in his eyes. "Deal kid?"

"Deal!" She says. Aiyanna flashes a smile. "I'm totally gonna win."

Tony snorts. "We'll see about that…" _She's totally gonna lose. _He mouths to Pepper. This manages a light chuckle out of Pepper, though she still shakes her head in dismay at this reckless deal that Tony has put out. At this point, Aiyanna seems back to her old self. Though a thoughtful expression on her face.

"Hey, Tony?"

"What is it squirt?"

"Natasha said that I wasn't alone." Aiyanna says quietly. "She said that you and the Avengers have experienced loss - is that true?"

Tony blinks, taken aback. Pepper observes him closely, wondering how he is going to respond to this. "Yeah. Yeah it's true." Tony nods, and he shoves his hands deep into his pockets. His eyes trail over to the wine cabinet next to them - though to Pepper's relief and proudness, he looks away quickly. "When I was seventeen, my parents both died in a car crash. Pepper goes quiet. Rarely does he speak of him. She grabs a hold of Tony's hand, and squeezes it. _I'm here for you. _

"Though I always strongly disliked the old man, it still kinda...hurt." Tony says, looking uncomfortable at this point. "Thing is, I never got to say goodbye to my father. I never proved my worth to him. How much more worth I am than just some kind of heir to his company. But there's questions I would've asked him. I would've asked him how he felt about what his company did, if he was conflicted, if he ever had doubts. Or maybe he was every inch of man we remember from the newsreels." Tony pauses, ruffling his hair.

"You can say, Aiyanna, that I am a guy who has everything but doesn't have everything, if that made sense. I used to be that type of guy. A billionaire, a guy who runs a huge company, popular in media, no worries - I had every material thing. But things like friends, loved ones, _family."_ Tony shifts in his spot, and gazes at Pepper. "And I changed a lot since then kid, but with change comes loss." His eyes lower for a moment. Pepper leans her head on his shoulder. She knows that look on his face. Yinsen. His friend.

Tony opens his eyes and breathes out. "So yeah kid. I know a thing or two about loss."

Aiyanna's expression is wide eyed and agape. "I'm sorry Tony…" She mutters.

"Nah, it's no problem." Tony tries to wave it off, despite the heaviness in the air now. "All in all, you could've asked us to bring you to the cemetery where your dad is buried...We could've always given you a ride." He pauses, a thoughtful expression on his face. "You know what? As a matter a fact, let's go see your dad." He suggests. Though it sounded more like he made up his mind and he wasn't going to budge from it. _How Tony like. _Is what Pepper thought, cracking a smile.

Aiyanna's expression lights up. "We can still go see him?"

"Yeah. Why not. Besides, there's something I want to show you…" Tony's sentence trails off, his usually confident demeanor getting quiet. Pepper catches this. She knows that look on his face. It's when he's thinking about his parents. She gives him a concerned look, but he waves it off with a hand and a carefree smile. "Let's go."

* * *

Steve excused himself from the group when they went back to the Avengers floors. He felt like the action was needed. That it was the _right _thing to do. He presses the elevator button to the sixty-sixth floor. Loki's floor. _Wonder if he's asleep? Hope I won't set him off. _Steve thought, glancing at the digital clock installed in the elevator. 7:13. Time flies by fast.

_Ding!_ Goes the elevator, and Steve steps out of the doors into the half wrecked floor of Loki. Steve was a little surprised that Tony didn't notice yet. He surveys the room, and sees the familiar figure of Loki sitting on the couch, his back facing the elevator. He didn't move from his position last time he saw him. Steve clears his throat. "Uhm, hello. Sorry to intrude." He says apologetically.

"No, Rogers, I do not wish to accompany you to the gym. Frankly, it is a waste of time." Loki immediately states icily, not turning around at all. Steve frowns. Somehow, he can tell that Loki's voice has gone twice colder than when he last talked to him. Well, he was angry. He sighs to himself, remembering the concerned expression on Loki's face when Pepper told them that Aiyanna was missing from the tower. After that, Steve couldn't help but feel a little guilty leaving Loki out of the search.

Steve nervously runs his hand through his hair. "Erm, no, that's not what I came here for. I thought that I should tell you that, Aiyanna has been returned to the tower." He says, feeling a little awkward. He looks up at a crack in the ceiling, probably caused by Loki, and shifts around in his spot. "She's back safe and sound."

Loki's head raises up. But he still doesn't turn around. "What makes you think that I would be concerned for her?"

Steve does a double take. "What?"

"You heard me Rogers."

"Loki, don't try to lie to me" Steve sighs. "I heard the news and stories from Pepper. How you would spend time with Aiyanna, it's no secret."

Silence. He doesn't answer.

Steve shoves his hands deep into his pocket, exhaling out and shrugs. "Just thought you'd like to know." He spins on his heel to make his getaway into the elevator.

"That is appreciated, Steve."

The Captain jumps at this. Not at the fact that Loki answered him - but that he called him by his first name. Wow. Just wow. He spins around. Loki has turned as well, facing him. "Y-You just-" Steve sputters, a little flabbergasted.

Loki smirks, pleased by his reaction. "Perhaps I owe you that visit to gym after all." He states.

Steve blinks. In the end, he gives a small nod. "Alright then."

* * *

The drive to the cemetery was silent. But the three family members clenched each others' hands as a reminder that they are there for each other. That they are not alone.

Finally, they arrived at the cemetery. Tony glances up at the familiar resting place. He didn't like how quiet it is at these places - so unearthly calm and just plain weird. Not to mention, really uncomfortable. He nods at Pepper and Aiyanna. "Right ahead." He leads the two into the grave site. The night is crisp and wet after the recent showers that ended some time ago. The trees present in the cemetery are changing to their autumn colors. A nice, cool wind blows gently in the air.

Tony, Pepper, and Aiyanna walked passed the many neat rows of graves. Some are decorated in flowers, gifts, letters, or pictures. Others are completely bare. Tony stops in front of one of the graves that are completely bare. He stares down at the familiar grave. It's been a long time since he's visited it. A shame. He could've brought a wine bottle or something…

"Is this daddy's grave?" Aiyanna asks, breaking the silence.

Tony shakes his head. "No...actually, it's a memorial to a friend. A friend of mine who I lost along the way." Tony's eyes lower to the empty memorial. Dandelions are growing around it. It made the plain, empty grave just look a bit nicer. "His name was Yinsen. One of my real, actual friends aside from the fake ones I had back in my company days." Tony explains. He puts a hand on the stone. Pepper and Aiyanna listen quietly. "It makes me feel kinda sad - that there wasn't even a proper funeral for him. Because not much people knew him. All of his family was dead. He had no one. But he was a pretty damn brilliant inventor if I had to say so myself."

He pats the grave, stepping back. "He could've been working at my side - but he died at the hands of a bunch of jerkass hooligans." Tony squeezes his eyes shut tightly, remembering Afganastain. A dark memory. "There isn't even a body to bury at this grave - it's just a memorial for him." Tony looks over the engraved words of Yinsen's name in the stone. He made sure not to make it too extravagant. Yinsen never really liked the flashy, fancy things.

Tony bows his head. "Yeah. Great guy."

He looks over back to Aiyanna and Pepper, shocked see a tear running down Pepper's face. A lot of tears are running down Aiyanna's face. He is shocked. "Ladies, ladies, what's with the crying?"

Pepper blinks rapidly, quickly wiping them away. "I-I'm sorry." She smiles at Tony. "I've just never seen you so open like this Tony. I...I'm just happy so happy you're showing it to us." Pepper says, dabbing her eyes. Tony smiles back at her.

"Well, I guess I'm an open book."

Aiyanna is quickly wiping away her tears as well, though new ones follow after the other she manages to wipe away. "I feel so bad for Yinsen." She mumbles.

Tony ruffles her hair. "Don't worry. He's with his family." He turns on his heel, saying a silent goodbye to his old friend. "To your father's resting place." The three all move on from Yinsen's grave deeper into the cemetery. In a few minutes, they arrived at Jacob's grave. White roses are scattered around the grave, now wilted and dead. Tony gazes at the grave. He should probably hire a daily garden to tend to ol' Jacob's grave…

Aiyanna stumbles forward, holding her breath. She runs her hand over her father's grave, over the braille writing on it. New, fresh tears leak from her eyes. Pepper and Tony both looked on, silent. "What does it say?" Pepper asks gently.

Aiyanna hiccups, her shoulders shaking. She sniffles loudly, wiping a sleeve across her nose. "Daddy used to have a saying: With every end comes a new beginning. I don't really get it, but he always repeats that to me everyday." Aiyanna feverishly runs her hand over the gray stone. "I wish, wish that I have some way to talk to him." She confesses, her voice scratchy. "I want to tell him everything. I really miss him."

Pepper and Tony only listen on to Aiyanna, as she continues to tell stories about her father and her thoughts. Tony never comments through the whole thing. Because there are just some things that needed to be listened to. And that's what counts.

* * *

**A/N: Feels bro. Feels.**


	18. To Be Babysitting

Sapphire Roz:

**Thank you! Glad that I'm not THAT predictable.**

ButtFace:

**Thanks! I know, there's no Loki and Aiyanna interaction for a couple of chapters...but that'll change. Dude, why's your name Buttface?! XD**

literaturelife7:

**The bet for sure is gonna get crazy. And Tony will do anything to win it. Ah, summer vacation was good while it lasted…**

Luna:

**Sorry, Loki ain't gonna homeschool Aiyanna anytime soon. ;)**

queenImno:

**Poor everyone, I know. DX I really love it when you get so philosophical and thoughtful in reviews, it gives ME a whole new view on my own story! :D**

person D:

**Thanks! There's just times where people truly appreciate to just have their problems talked over and listened to by others. **

1248:

**Thanks. Everybody seems to find it so heartwarming. You gotta love character development.**

fan-de-carlisle-cullen:

**Everybody loves dat Steve and Loki moment. Don't worry, Loki and Aiyanna are coming back in this chapter. (With an unexpected character!)**

caramelkitkat:

**Fine, I might as well consider it. ;D**

MoonlightShine:

**If you're implying that they should get together when they're older, no. That is just very very creepy. Even if Aiyanna is older, I don't like - no - loathe the idea of her getting into a romance with Loki. That just shatters the family bonding they had - not to mention he is a thousand years older than her, no matter if she is twenty or something, she's still incredibly young to him. Sorry if I sound harsh, but I certainly won't take their relationship to that level. **

Patient Person:

**Okay okay! XD It's so ironic that your name is patient...**

* * *

_**"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all." **_

― _**Helen Keller, The Open Door**_

* * *

**~Chapter Eighteen~**

"_Should I try Miss Potts?" JARVIS asked gently. Though he is a computer, he is a pretty damn considerate one._

_Tony's voice is caught up in his throat, and blinks. "Might as well." The phone rings. _

"_Beep, Beep. Please leave your message after the beep…" Tony closes his eyes._

"_I am sorry sir, she is not picking up…" JARVIS trails off._

"_Just keep her picture on." Tony mutters. He is going so fast. So so fast. The very thing that was supposed to destroy New York in his hands felt surprisingly light. _

"_I shall route you the quickest way to the wormhole, sir." JARVIS says, mapping it out for him._

_Tony nods. At least the computer isn't making this any harder for him. He's going to die. A 79% sure chance he is. As Tony is hurdling straight towards the wormhole with the nuke, he gazes at the profile picture of Pepper inside his mask. She is smiling mischeviously at the camera, a smile curling on her lips as she tries to turn away. For some reason she always hated having her pictures taken. But Tony managed to catch one she was off guard - he felt so triumphant finally capturing an image of her._

_Tony looks ahead at the wormhole. 'Here goes fucking nothing.' And flies straight into it. And everything goes black._

"Hah!" Tony bolts upright, gasping, clawing at chest. The stupid, stupid nightmares won't go away. Sweat is pouring down his forehead. Tony is panting hard. Tony massages his temple, and looks over at the clock. 3:25. Well that's the longest he's managed to sleep. At least he's making some progress. He glances back at the sleeping Pepper and Aiyanna besides him. They sleep so peacefully. Tony couldn't help but envy them. The lack of sleep is really starting to get to him…

His hands are twitching. Tony glances down at them. For a brief moment, he imagines a powerdrill and a flamethrower in his hands - then shakes it out of his mind. No, no, no, no workshop for him. He promised Pepper. Well, he was forced but still. Tony eases his breaths, climbing out of bed. He needs to do something else. Anything else aside from sleeping. Or working in the the workshop.

Tony quietly puts his feet flatly on the floor and walks out of the bedroom. He needs to drink coffee or something. He heads to the kitchen, and boils some water in his special coffemaker. While waiting for the water to boil, Tony thinks back on the events that took place the past week. And the little deal he made with Aiyanna. Tony chuckles to himself. She surely can't deal living such a crazy lifetstyle - can she?

He scratches the side of his face. He wished that Thor was here. It would've been a truly ridiculous and glorious to see the god of thunder trying to figure out the technology on Earth and causing wreck to his home. That would drive anyone crazy. But he was back at Asgard fighting in their war...so incovenient. And really bad for Thor, Tony has to admit. But them Asguardians can surely handle themselves against some freak alien races, so there's really no need to worry.

_Click!_ Goes the coffeemaker. Water's ready. Heat rises to Tony's face, as he pours the hot drink into a mug. He slowly stirs around a spoon in the brown drink, dumping some sugar in it. What to do, what to do? When Tony Stark makes a bet, you can be sure as hell that he's going to win it. Sipping the coffee, his addled sleep mind wakes up with a jolt. Tony jumps, blinking.

A wide grin spreads on his face. The power of caffeine. Cuz he has an idea. "Eureka bitches. Man I love saying that." He mutters, as he heads to his study to plan out how to win the bet. And oh, he is going to win it if his name isn't Tony fucking Stark.

* * *

Clint wished that SHIELD would hand out some missions sometime soon. Watching Loki was not as intense as he expected it to be. He watches him closely through the vents and surveillance at times (He's an assassin, it is _not _being a stalker like Tony claims…) and all the guy does is_ read._ Read, read, read and fucking read. Seriously, he expected the guy to grab a cauldron and do some creepy voodoo shit to do some trippy supervillain things or whatnot. But no. The guy reads _Shakesphere. _

This morning, Tony waltzes into the Avengers' floors, announcing that he has _very _big news for them.

"Hey Capsicle? Guess what. You're going to have a trip to the Intrepid Musuem!"

Steve's face noticeably lights up. Clint snorts, rolling his eyes. Of course the guy would be excited about that. He has been talking about it for a week when he found out about it. "Really? Geez, that's swell!" He says, grinning with an enthusiastic grin on his round face. It kinda suited him instead of the rigid expression that the Captain wears all of the time. But what was Clint to comment about that? He pretty much keeps a rigid stiff face all of the time.

Tony puts up a finger, clearly having something else to add on to the matter. "It's because you agreed to have a bunch of interviews there!" He adds on with a punch-pleased smile.

Clint glances over to Steve, who's smile immediately drains from his face. "A...an interview?"

"Yep. And after that, you're going to make multiple appearances at schools to teach the kids about honor, patriosm, and the spirit of America!" Tony says with a mock salute.

Clint shakes his head, working away at his omelet. He honestly felt bad for their leader. Everyone knows how much the super soildier is stiff from being in the eye of the public. Not like Clint can blame him - he's seen the commercials and ads Captain America was in when being used as America's mascot. He'd been absolutely morbid in front of the public eye if he had to be put in some silly suit. Bleh. Unlike Tony and Steve are are popular and well known in the public, Natasha's and Clint's identities are covered up and have been well hidden from the public. Which is what he considers an advantage, because unlike the other team mates, he and Natasha can walk around freely without people rushing up to them asking for an autograph...

Tony nods and grins evilly at Steve, clearly enjoying his discomfort at the situation. "Don't worry Spangles, I'll be there in the interviews with you - hopefully I won't hog _too _much of the spotlight." Steve goes back to eating cornflakes muttering something under his breath about his ruined dreams and how he didn't want to sing an American theme song. Tony looks over to Bruce. "And for youuuu Bruce." Tony spins his heel towards him. "You have to go to Moscow to collect some top class gamma radiated material located in a cave." He says, throwing him a manila folder.

The scientist catches it, putting on his glasses. He looks over the material. "And this is assigned by SHIELD?" Tony nods, deadpan on his face. "What do they want me to do, swallow the stuff?" He mumbles, clearly miffed by the situation.

Tony shrugs. "Don't worry, a helicopter is provided for you. And you Natasha, lucky lady!" He says, turning to her. She merely raises an eyebrow in answer, as she takes a huge bite out of an apple. "You have to go undercover!" Tony tosses a folder to her as well. She catches it easily with one hand, and opens it. "You have to go undercover as the President's secretary. Some assassination threats have been sent against him. Gotta make sure the Main Man is safe."

Clint watches Natasha's eyes quickly analyze the situation. He glances over to Tony. "Anything for me?" A smirk comes onto the billionaire's face. Clint catches this, raises an eyebrow. That means he's up to no good…

"As a matter a fact, I doggone do. Your mission is...babysitting."

The breakfast table activity comes to a stop, and everybody looks at the archer. Clint blinks dubiously. "Do you mean babysitting a potential terrorist in Asia or something?"

"Nope. Baby-sitting. Babysitting Aiyanna of course!" Tony exclaims, clapping his hands.

Clint is frozen at this point. "Tony." He states slowly. "I. Am. A Fucking Assassin. Not. A babysitter."

Tony scoffs. "What, do you hate the kid?"

"I never said that!"

"Then you should have no problem looking after her!"

"Can't Pepper look after her?"

"Gave her a whole day at the spa." Tony shrugs.

"How about hiring a nanny?"

"Hey, this is last minute do you want me to find some creep off the street to look after her?"

Clint leans back, putting a hand to his face. And here he was sincerely hoping that he would have some excuse to get out of the Tower. "Tony. I am not good with kids. In fact, I'm not good with people." He says through gritted teeth.

"Bird-man, you're acting as if you're going to your funeral!" Tony exclaims indignantly. "It's not like the kid will dress you up in a fairy outfit and force you to play dollhouse with her! Little girls don't do that for their past time!"

"They don't?" Clint pauses, shaking his head. "Stark just don't ask me this kind of thing. Maybe I can go with Natasha undercover?" He tries, trying to worm his way out of this situation. Anything other than babysitting! Natasha rolls her eyes, scoffing at his demise.

"A cheap way to get out of something, Hawkeye." She states, not looking quite sorry for him.

Clint sighs. And here he thought she would at least come to his side. Tony sighs dramatically. "Hmm, well, I guess the kid will be left...with Loki. All alone. In Stark Tower. No one here." He says, putting a fake pouting face. Clint gives him the best stink eye. Tony Stark is truly an ass. Seriously, trying to guilt trip him. Now _that's_ a cheap way to try to convince someone to do something! Clint kicks his feet up the table, not bothering with table manners, and assess the situation.

So far, though the other Avengers seem to be quite _laxed_ about the whole damn situation. Beyond his toleration levels, everyone seems to be warming up to the ex-supervillain. Which Clint does not get. He's a psychopath. A danger. Certainly a dangerous factor for Earth even if he is rendered 'harmless.' Other planets out there are still searching for Loki - and if they happen to find him here, on Earth...well...And he is getting too close to the little kid for Clint's liking...then again, their relationship is of no interest or concern to him. But still.

He relents, giving in. "Fine Stark. But you owe me a solid."

Tony breaks out into a grin. A grin that seemed that he enjoyed the situation a little too much. As if he planned it. Clint's eyes narrow, his intuition kicking in. Wasn't it a little too convenient and strange how all of the Avengers are assigned to something except him? "Just be your normal ol' self Clint." Tony states.

* * *

"...Hey."

"Hi Clint!" Aiyanna greets, glancing away from the TV.

"Did you eat breakfast yet?"

"No."

"Oh." Clint pauses, looking over to the kitchen. He tugs at his collar. Great, now he has to _cook?_ He's an assassin and yet he's been reduced to this. "Eh...I guess I'll cook for you…" _For God's sake Clint, you can't even fry your own eggs without setting fire to them!_ He yells at himself. Being an assassin and secret agent, Clint mostly moved around all of his life, country to country spying on enemies and carefully gathering information. He had little time to give himself cooking lessons. Stealth is all he knows. No time to settle down and cook up some fancy shamncy food.

Usually Clint can settle with tube food (it sounds gross at first, but he got used to it) and protein shakes so that he can always be on the go and in shape - so cooking isn't a skill he had much...experience with.

The archer examines the stove, and briefly ponders what to cook for the little girl without setting the kitchen on fire. "Clint, can I have chicken nuggets?" Aiyanna calls out, finding her way to the counter. He frowns at this breakfast choice.

"Chicken nuggets? For breakfast? That isn't good to eat for breakfast." He comments.. Though he's secretly relieved that he didn't need to cook anything complex. Aiyanna simply shrugs in answer, looking expectantly at him. Clint gives in. The girl's breakfast choice doesn't matter that much. But the SHIELD agent wondered what was this kid's strange obsession with chicken nuggets.

He rummages through the freezer of the refrigerator, and gets his hands on the last box of frozen chicken nuggets. Clint takes it out, skimming over the directions. Getting the general idea, he dumps the nuggets into a mini oven on the counter, setting it on high. He glances back at Aiyanna, who is sitting on the counter. She is playing around with some action figures, seeming preoccupied. While waiting for the food to heat up, Clint lets himself get distracted by _Spongebob._

He scowls at the screen as he watches the idiotic actions of Spongebob and Patrick. And the show used to be so good…

"Clint?"

"Yeah, what?" He replies, not looking away from the screen. Spongebob and Patrick are trapped in a toy store...the stupidity of the kids' show was head aching, though Clint found that he couldn't look away.

"Clint! Clint, I think the oven's on fire!"

"What?!" His gaze finally breaks from the screen, and is met with the sight of the oven caught on fire. The red flames lick the ceiling behind it. "Ohhhh SHIT!" He yells, not bothering to cover up the curse. In a fit of confusion, Clint unplugs the oven. He rushes to the sink, filling up a pot of water. He then throws the water on the device. It crackles and pops. Aiyanna yelps diving on the floor. Clint flinches morbidly.

He peers inside of the oven. What is left of the chicken nuggets is nothing but blackened pieces that looks like coal. He heaves out a sigh, cursing out more under his breath. Goddamn, he couldn't even cook some simple chicken nuggets! "Sorry kid, that was the last box…" He stops when he hears soft giggling. He looks over the counter, seeing Aiyanna on the floor in a fit of laughter. "Uhh, kid?"

"Hehehehehehe!" She giggles in peals of laughter. "You're a _terrible _cook Clint!"

"You don't need to tell me twice." He mutters. He grabs the tray with a rag covering his hand and throws away the contents in the trash. He glances at the broken microwave oven. Meh. Tony can always replace it.

"You're a terrible cook," Aiyanna repeats a childish grin on her face. "Just like daddy. He couldn't cook if his life depended on it..." The grin fades from her face, going quiet from mentioning her deceased parent. Clint looks at Aiyanna out of the corner of his eye. He felt pretty sorry for her. But the sympathy hardens into anger. The reason why she is left fatherless in the first place is because of _Loki_. Along with many other families in New York. Clint turns back to the fridge, looking through its contents.

"You sure you don't want to eat anything else?"

Aiyanna shakes her head in answer, the quiet look not disappearing from her face.

"You can have a PJ sandwich. Or hey, maybe some cold beef and mashed potatoes…?"

No answer. Aiyanna's head is lied down on the counter. Clint gives a frustrated grunt. The kid needs to eat something! Is she trying to starve herself? "Let me guest. You won't eat unless there are chicken nuggets around."

Aiyanna nods at this.

"Why so quiet?" Clint scratches the back of his head, at this point, not sure what to do. "You need to eat _something. _Have you been eating chicken nuggets ever since you came here?"

Another nod. Weird. The kid has never been this quiet.

"C'mon, eat at least some cold leftovers!" Clint says, getting a little worked up. "Are you trying to make yourself go hungry? Because it's a damn well fact that you can't live the rest of your life eating chicken nuggets. It's undernourishing. Not to mention fattening." Still no word out of the kid. He runs his hand over his face. "What, are you mad that I burnt your chicken nuggets?"

"No." Aiyanna quietly says.

At least she said something now. Clint crosses his arms. "Okay then. If that's not the case, what is? Giving the silent treatment would not earn you anything nor solve anything if you just shut up, so spill it." He says curtly. _Hm, that came out a little harsher than intended. _Clint frowns to himself.

Aiyanna glances up, her brow furrowed. "You don't have to be a big meanie about it."

"That's pretty much the nicest way I can put it." Clint states. "Now give me the answer to the big mystery as to why you're so obsessed with chicken nuggets."

Aiyanna glances down. "I don't know. I don't really know you. And you're kinda scary." She says in a small voice.

Clint gives out an exasperated sound. "Okay, fine, you don't need to tell me. I'm just asking."

Aiyanna's mouth forms into a tight line as she looks away once again. She wanders back to the couch, and lies down. Clint shakes his head. She seriously isn't going to eat anything. Or say anything since Clint had to be so brusque to her. _And this is why I don't play well with others. _Clint thought.

For a good half hour, Clint manages to sharpen and check all of his arrows and weaponary. And all of that time, Aiyanna is completely silent, only playing with some play-doh or watching TV. _What do blind people do for their fun time?_ Clint suddenly wonders to himself. It must be pretty frustrating. But what does he know? Clint glances back to to Aiyanna, who is staring aimlessly off at nothing as she listens to the dumb babble of Timmy with his Fairy Oddparents on TV.

Clint stretches. Man, does he hate the feeling of sitting around and doing nothing. _I could train on the gym with some archery. _He thought, deciding it. He looks back at Aiyanna. She seems distracted. It wouldn't matter if he's gone for another half hour, right? Besides, the kid is practically ignoring him. But at the same time, she wasn't really a handful, thank the lord. Making up his mind, Clint decided to take some time to train. Just for maybe fifteen minutes he'll practice some archery, then check on Aiyanna. One thing for sure, the archer just wanted to do something he knows what he's good at.

* * *

_Ding!_ Goes the familiar sound of the elevator. Aiyanna cocks her head from the TV. Did Clint go away? Aiyanna pauses. No footsteps. She's alone on the floor. Aiyanna felt her relax. Clint made her feel a little intimidated and quiet around him. She couldn't find herself to talk to him as she could with the other Avengers. And most of all, he's kind of..._boring._ Not to mention, kind of distant.

Aiyanna sighs. It seems that Tony and the others seemed really busy today. Is it going to be like this all of the time? Stuck in Stark Tower, dwindling off and hearing the annoying voices of Spongebob for the rest of her days? Suddenly, Aiyanna found the idea of being at school with a bunch of other kids very appealing. But this appeal is driven away from her fear and anxiety from the fact that she's just plain different. That normal kids won't accept her.

She scratches her right hand, where a bandage is still wrapped around it. Suddenly, her friend, Logan comes to her mind. She hasn't visited him the past couple of days. She smiles to herself. Logan is what made her time at Stark Tower, just a little more nice and less alone. With his interesting stories and books, Aiyanna always gets thinking when she's around him. Aiyanna goes over to the elevator and jams the button to his floor. Within a minute, she arrives on his floor.

"Logan? Are you here?" She calls out. She clicks her tongue, walking forward to where the couch is. At least the place is cleaned up from when she's last been here.

"Aiyanna?" The lightest shade of green sprinkles in Aiyanna's head like light drops of snow. She smiles, and bumps into the couch. She feels the smooth, leathery material of the furniture and finds her way around it, plopping on top of the seat. Logan's body is a couple of feet away from her. "Why, hello." He states in his faint British accent.

"Hi Logan."

"I was just thinking about you." He states. Aiyanna hears the faint crackle of a page flipping. "And recalled your little misadventure from last night."

Aiyanna feels heat rush to her cheeks. "Ehehe, yeah…"

Logan chuckles, much to Aiyanna's surprise. "That reminds me of the time…"

"Huh? What time Logan?" Aiyanna asks, interested. She puts her hands on his knee, leaning on it.

"Believe it or not, when I was but your age I ran away from home." He admits. Aiyanna feels herself smiling, sensing the nostalgia in his voice. "I was angry at my father…" Aiyanna sense an angry bitterness sharpening to his voice when he mentions his dad. "For giving Th...ahem, my brother a special...clothing." Aiyanna leans in, intrigued.

"Why didn't your daddy didn't give you any special clothes?"

Lokgan gives a stale laugh that Aiyanna notices he uses everytime he is angry or annoyed. "I was wondering that as well. I thought that he certainly favored my brother over me. So I planned to run away into the woods for three whole nights. I surely thought that it would make everyone feel sorry when I returned."

Aiyanna's mouth drops open. "You ran away from your home for three whole days? In the woods?" She whispers, awe-inspired. "Weren't you scared?"

A laugh comes from Logan, that like he truly meant it this time. "Was I? Bilge - I mean, a bear chased me all the way up a tree before I got through my first night. Od - my father immediately found me before the first not passed, still trapped on the highest tree from the ferocious bear. When I returned home, my brother was nearly brought to tears of worry over my disappearance." Aiyanna can feel the relaxness yet also some kind of stiffness as Logan talked of his family.

"I truly felt back then as if my family actually paid attention to me for the first time." Logan says.

"Wow. What's your family like, Logan?"

Logan noticeably pauses at this. He heaves out a little sigh that sounded like on the verge of another one of those bitter laughs. "A mess. A bloody mess." He mumbles.

"What do you mean? Are they a bad family?" Aiyanna asks, frowning in concern.

"...Back then, I supposed not." Logan admits. Though a resentment is clearly in his tone. "Things seem quite simple as a child, is it not?" He clears his throat, and he puts a hand on Aiyanna's shoulder. "Tell me, dear girl, what was in your mind when you ran away from the Tower? Is Tony Stark being...a bad parent?" Concern in his his voice.

Aiyanna smiles., shaking her head. "Of course not silly! I just...really wanted to see my daddy." She adds the last part a little quietly. "I just want, no, really really wish that I have some way to talk to him." She confesses. She clenches her skirt tightly. Logan seems quiet at this point. He always seemed so quiet when she talks about her daddy. But what mattered was that he listened.

"I promise, Little One," He says, taking her hand. His big, cool hand takes hers, wrapping it. "That I will find some way for you to speak to your father." Aiyanna's heart swells, feeling the genuineness and determination in Logan's voice.

"Really? Pinky swear?" She asks, extending a pinky.

He pauses at first, but takes it. "I swear on it."

* * *

**A/N: Damn it I meant for this to be longer but it's getting late. Until then! Reviews please!**


	19. To Be Taking A Risk

**A/N: Sorry for no update yesterday, I went to Coney Islands to see the fireworks. It was so cool! And oh boy, you guys made such crazy assumptions about last chapter. Why is everyone assuming that Loki's going to attempt to bring Aiyanna's father back to life? XD He isn't **_**that**_ **literal y'know…**

Lady Syndra:

**I assure you, Loki wouldn't turn to that great of measures… (yet.)**

Sapphire Roz:

**Yep, Clint is being the most Clint-ish he can be. (I just made a new word!) XD**

fan-de-carlisle-cullen:

**You reviewers are assuming that Loki's gonna try to reanimate her father...and it kinda gives me an evil idea on what to do. *evil smile* How's that gonna happen? Well, not the way you exactly think...I'm glad that you agree with me on the matter with Loki and Aiyanna. It's just super creepy if they were to get together - which of course won't happen!**

Luna:

**Just a note to self: Never leave Clint to do the cooking if you want your food to live. And your microwave. 8D**

queenImno:

**Well, Aiyanna didn't take Loki's promise literally, because she figured that her dad is not coming back. As for Loki, he's not going to take her promise literally - I know that he knows the price of trying to defy the laws of nature. But like I said, since so many of you are assuming that he'll bring Aiyanna's father back to life, hmm hmm hmm, something like that will happen in future chapters...when you least expect it…**

.9:

**Hey-o! Cool that you're back and still alive! :D**

Snow Shadow:

**Glad that you like it, and thanks for the review! Everyone is anticipating and wondering how Aiyanna will react to 'Logan's' true identity. Well, that won't happen towards the end of this fic...As for the matter of Loki, I just wanted to write him once without being in a romance - do you know how many redemption fics he's in but he's being redeemed by an obvious love interest? I want to write him healing and redeeming himself through the power of friendship and family love, as cheesy as it sounds. X)**

guest n.x:

**To clear up some things, no, Aiyanna is not going to find out about Loki's identity in the middle of the fic or get any hints about it. She will find out his identity near the end of the chapter - after 30 chapters worth of bonding and character development. *cackles evilly* I don't take it in offense that you think that I'm British. XD Since Loki and Thor have a little of an English accent, I figured they'd be formal and British-ish in their way of speaking. It's for their mannerisms. ;)**

Caustic Cottonballs:

**Shhh...shh man. You just gotta let it go. Let the microwave pass on in peace…**

literaturelife 7:

**Irresponsible Clint. Gotta love that. As I repeated myself before, Loki will not attempt to bring back Aiyanna's father or have some kind of way where she can actually talk to him. But like I stated, somehow, Aiyanna's father will be back in future chapters...how? Well, you just gotta read on. ( ͒ ****ु****- •̫̮ – ****ू ****͒) -That's a cat. :D**

Robyn Flynn:

**Thank you! :D Don't worry, this chapter won't be as feel-ly. It's more lighter and funny. ;) This fic can't go on without its funny chapters! **

ButtFace:

**Hm, now that I think of it, I bet Clint WOULD freak out if he heard that little exchange between Loki and Aiyanna. Our little archer might jump to conclusions. **

person D:

**I'm relieved and glad to hear that you think Clint is in character. He's a complex man. X3 **

caramel kitkat:

**Okay broh, okay, I won't forget my consideration. (Hopefully…)**

* * *

**"If you dare nothing,**

**then when the day is over,**

**nothing is all you will have gained." **

― _**Neil Gaiman, The Graveyard Book**_

* * *

**~Chapter Nineteen~**

"_Stir up the Athenian youth to merriments/Awake the pert and nimble spirit of mirth/Turn melancholy forth to funerals/The pale companion is not for our pomp…_" Loki reads aloud a paragraph from another of Shakesphere's works, _A Midsummer's Night Dream_, to Aiyanna who is sitting next to him_. _Her face is set in curiosity, her eyebrows furrowed closely together as she struggled to comprehend the meaning of the words coming out of Loki's mouth. Loki highly doubted that she understood it, but the little girl insisted upon him reading the play out loud.

Loki already finished the book _Hamlet_ when Aiyanna came into his floor, and decided to move on to more light hearted reading material. After finishing _Hamlet, _Loki felt slightly depressed at the tragic end for the main character, and at the same time incredibly bitter from reading the dark gothic tragedy. Torrent of memories come flooding back to Loki - some he didn't want to remember and some he couldn't bear to remember. The memories that he couldn't bear was of his childhood - memories that are so genuine and happy that it made Loki sick.

When he looked back on those childhood memories, all he could think to himself was, _How could I have been so damn happy?_ Those childhood memories fill Loki with an emptiness, nostalgia, and longing that Loki wants to erase away. His childhood was a damn lie. It meant nothing to him - does it? He had no idea what came over him when he told Aiyanna one of his childhood memories about the time he ran away. It felt _slightly_ good at first to be talking about the fond memory - but then that same bitterness hits Loki, as remembers those past precious years of being with his fake family. Are they fake?

"_Hippolyta, I woo'd thee with my sword…_" Loki couldn't help but snort in quiet laughter at this line. Aiyanna glances up at him, looking puzzled.

"What's so funny Logan?"

Loki forces his laughter down, and shakes his head. He considered himself lucky that Aiyanna didn't get the double meaning in that particular line - Shakesphere had quite a way with making sexual vulgar jokes. "Nothing, nothing." He clears his throat and continues reading on. "_And won thy love, doing thee injuries/But I will wed thee in another key/With pomp, with triumph and with revelling..._"

While reading aloud, Loki's thought wanders back to the little promise that he made to Aiyanna. He hopes that she doesn't take him seriously - for he knows some spells on how to communicate with the dead. Maybe bring them back to life - though Loki dared to never try such a thing. Necromancy. A dark art in magic, and very complicated too. Not to mention, very tricky and dangerous. If Loki didn't have his daughter, Hel, goddess of the underworld, he would practice necromancy more often. But he had to respect his daughter's wishes to keep his magic off her realm - and she meant it. The two aren't exactly the picture perfect of a father and daughter.

When Loki made his promise to Aiyanna, he considered, for a brief moment, to attempt to bring the man back to life. He could just strike a deal with Hel or...who was he joking? Hel is not one to kindly do favors. There is always another side to her when she makes a deal. Something she probably got from him. And she happened to be protective over those who reside in the Underworld, so Loki's idea vanished instantly.

_Besides,_ he thought, as gazing over a detailed illustration of a Greek temple with people drawn into it. _Even if I do have all of my magic, Necromancy is an untrustworthy type of practice. And to add on, I would be defying the Laws of Magic. _Loki remembers those simple rules. They were one of the first things that Frigga taught to him as a child: You cannot bring the dead back to life, You cannot travel back in time, You cannot use magic to make yourself immortal. Though magic is a force that can do many things, it has its limits as well. Loki is one that breaks rules - but the Laws of Magic are rules set in stone that he is sure not to abuse.

All in all, Loki wondered silently to himself how he was going to fulfill the promise to Aiyanna…

_Ding! _Goes the elevator. Loki stops reading, and glances up. A sneer takes over when he sees the face of the unexpected visitor. It is the archer - Clint, was it?

Clint glares at Loki, scowling at the same time. He glances over to Aiyanna with his sour expression. "Aiyanna - you didn't tell me that you'd go to..._Logan._" Clint spits the last part out, as if he struggled not to say 'Loki.' Fiery hate is behind the dark eyes of the mortal, though Loki simply smirks at him.

"Sorry Clint," Aiyanna says, running her hand over the couch. Clint gives a rough sigh and storms over to the couch. He grabs Aiyanna by her little hand, and lifts her up easily from the couch with one hand. This time, Loki glares at the archer. He easily glares back.

"C'mon kid, you can just go to the gym with me to erm, read or something, whatever you want." Clint says, pulling her towards the elevator.

Aiyanna frowns at him. "Why can't I just stay here with Logan for the rest of day?"

Loki sees the clenched expression on Clint's face, that he wanted to yell the truth to Aiyanna. Seeing that made Loki's heart skip a beat. Fear freezes him at first. He didn't want the little mortal girl to find out. Not yet. Though Clint breathes out, trying to maintain a calm look. To Loki's secret relief, Clint seemed to stop himself from revealing anything. Instead he says to Aiyanna, "Why do you want to stay with Logan? I'm supposed to be keeping watch over you anyway."

Aiyanna giggles in answer. "Well you're not a very good babysitter Clint!" She exclaims earnestly. "Plus you're kinda boring."

Loki supresses himself from cackling in triumph and satisfaction. He drank in the morbid and irrate look on the grown mortal's face. He is red at the cheeks, his glaring eyes looking intensely at Loki with the looks to kill. "Oh. Oh really?" Clint asks Aiyanna in a deadly calm expression. "So you're saying that Logan is more interesting than me?"

"...Yeah." A sorry look is on Aiyanna's face. Loki didn't feel sorry for Clint at all.

"Well then." Clint's face is calculating and thoughtful for a moment. "In that case Aiyanna, let's go outside and do something exciting." He states.

Aiyanna cocks her little head in curiosity. "...Okay! But can Logan come with us?"

Loki felt a little touch from when Aiyanna asks that. But then he remembers the cold metal digging into his ankle - he can't leave Stark Tower by 100 yards. Unfortunately for Loki, he had no idea what the measurement system is used on Midgard so...Clint eyes Loki closely, an analyzing look in them. He looked as if he were about to refuse Aiyanna's request - but then Clint's dark eyes crinkle up into...a fake sort of friendliness. Loki feels his eyes narrow. What is the reason behind the archer's sudden change in behavior?

"Alright then. Why not? The more the merrier." He states.

"Yay!" She says, and follows Clint to the elevator.

On cue, Loki commands his disguised form as Logan Stark to shield him before they enter the elevator. He pondered on what this archer is planning to possibly do. And why he would accept Aiyanna's request. He was sure that the man would not just say yes to anything or anyone out of the goodness of his heart, unless it is an advantage to him.

For a brief, brief moment, Loki catches a ghost of an evil planning smirk on Clint's face before he turns away into the elevator.

* * *

Clint hates Loki. Period. End of story.

Even though the other Avengers seem to let their guard down around him, Clint isn't going to anytime soon unless he were insane. One way or another, Loki is still a danger and threat to those around him - like a bomb waiting to go off.

And although a part of himself digressed from letting Loki come along with the little last minute adventure he thought up for Aiyanna, another part whispered to him a way to make Loki truly squirm and writhe in pain. What he was about to do is something that will make Clint sure to laugh and bring up for the rest of his days. Revenge can be a two way street, can't it?

Once the three reached the lobby, Clint takes Loki and Aiyanna outside of Stark Tower. Loki looks a little nervous, probably at the fact that an electric bracelet can electrify him at any moment if he were to go over the 100 yard boundaries. It just made the situation all the more perfect, since Clint suspected that Loki has no idea of Earth's measurement system. He was going to fucking enjoy what is about to take place.

Eyeing a nearby dark car of Stark Industries, Clint rushes over to it, and opens the door. He ushers Aiyanna into the driver's seat and Loki into the back. "Is this carriage even yours, Barton?" Loki questions, still looking hesitant.

"If you mean car, sure, why not?" Clint replies. He glances over to Aiyanna who is touching the steering wheel with curiosity.

"Clint, where are we going, and why am I sitting in the driver's seat?"

Clint gives a lopsided smile at Aiyanna, putting both of her hands on the wheel. "Today's lesson that I'm going to teach you, is how to drive."

"_What?!"_ Loki says from the back seat. Clint holds back his laughter when he sees his particularly horrified expression from the mirror.

"What!" Aiyanna exclaims, though excitement is creeping into her expression.

"Yes indeedy deed. And we are going to Whole Foods to buy you chicken nuggets. And you're going to drive us there."

"B-but I'm blind," Aiyanna says, biting her bottom lip. Her hands grip the wheel. "And are we allowed to do this? What if I hit cars?"

"Haha, don't worry about the details kid." Clint grins. "Blind people are just as capable as anybody else!" Aiyanna's face blossoms into admiration and enthusiasm. As for Loki, he looks clearly morbid at the situation.

"Clint, I am sure by Mid - I mean, people's standards, you are supposed to be much older to drive this device!" Loki says, glancing around nervously.

"Don't be a downer Logan," Clint says mockingly. "Besides, are you the interesting one around here? Take a chance." He turns to the GPS device in the car, typing in the address. "And don't worry Aiyanna, luckily, there's not much traffic around here in New York - that is before the Battle of New York." Clint eyes Loki when he says this. The other man looks out of the window when Clint states this. "A lot of roads are closed down for construction and rennovation, all of that good stuff, so there won't be a lot of cars or pedestrians around - hopefully! Okay kid, let's see what you got. Step on the brakes below you!"

"Okay!" The car suddenly jolts forward.

"AACK!" Loki screams. _Bonk!_ Clint this time doesn't hold back his laughter. Loki happened to back himself on the car seat behind him.

"Good job kid!" He encourages Aiyanna.

Aiyanna nods eagerly, clearly enjoying this as well. She finds a lever and jolts in backwards. _CRASH! _This action ends up hitting the car behind them. Aiyanna flinches, looking scared for a moment.

"_HEY! Get outta that car you jackasses!"_ The chauffeur yells that owned the car that Clint happened to, ahem, borrow.

"Step on it Aiyanna, you got it!" Clint encourages, who can't help but enjoy the situation too much.

"Eeh!" Aiyanna swerves the car to the right, managing to knock off a rearview mirror of another misfortunate car that happens to be in her path.

"This is madness!" Loki exclaims, as he grips onto the handles of the roof for dear life. Clint smiles widely at him. There was no way he was going to tell him that he can always put on a seatbelt. Aiyanna drives clumsily at first, the car continuously shaking back and forth. Clint helps her along the way by directing her where to go.

"Turn right Aiyanna, your right," He directs. Aiyanna steers the wheel a little bit to the right, with the guidance of Clint. A wild smile breaks on her face.

"H-hey, I think I'm getting the hang of it!" She says with a grin of triumph. Clint glances back to Loki, who looks as stiff as board.

"Enjoying the ride Logan?"

Loki pales, his eyes widening at the sight he sees ahead. "WATCH OUT!" Loki shrieks. Clint's head snaps to the front, in which he sees Aiyanna driving the car into an oncoming one.

"Ah, ah, ah, ahh!" Clint grabs the wheel, steering it over. This causes the car to crash into a mailbox. Clint stares out at the poor beaten mailbox, which skids towards a wall. People who happened to be on the sidewalks scream in shock, running off in all places. _Sorry mailbox._ Clint thought. Aiyanna takes hold of the wheel once again, leading the car to the left.

"I'm such a great driver, right Logan?"

"Y-yes, sure dear…" Loki replies, holding his forehead. "Tell me, are we beyond 100 yards?"

Clint smirks to himself. "Nah, of course not Logan! Trust me!" _Give or take a few more yards and you'll be lighting up! _Loki glares suspiciously at Clint. Aiyanna frowns, steering the car to the left as the computer voice directed. She crashes the side of a car that happened to be stationed at the side of the road. _That's gonna leave a dent!_ Clint commented to himself though is grinning crazily at the absurdity of the situation. "Why would you wanna know that Logan?"

"No reason Ai - GGGGAhahahahhhhhhhhh!" His sentence is interrupted by a scream of bloody murder.

This surprises Aiyanna, and she swerves the car into a nearby fire hydrant. _CRASH!_ Goes the car. Clint bangs his forehead at the side of the window. "OOF!" _Wee-oh-wee-oh-wee-ohhhh!_ The car alarm sirens go off, blaring everyone's ears. Loki is shaking spastically, his face twisted in pain.

"By the Norns above and Hel below, WE ARE BEYOND 100 YARDS!" Loki screeches, violent tremors going through his body. Clint opens the door, scooping a dazed Aiyanna out. He grins to himself. _Revenge is a dish best served fun. _He thought to himself, reveling in Loki's obvious pain at the electric shocks being sent through him.

"Is Logan alright?"

"Yeah kid, more or less...you can just say that he's going into..._shock!_ Hahaha, yeah!" Clint high fives himself. Aiyanna looks at him confused. An excited look takes her face.

"That was awesome Clint! Did I do good!"

Clint looks over to the many dents in the poor car and the water spewing out of the fire hydrant. He smiles proudly at Aiyanna, ruffling her hair. "You did good kid. You did good. Uh-oh." He states, when he sees the running figures of policemen going towards them. "Ehh, okay Aiyanna, Whole Foods is a block away - we should start running." He said. He glances back to Loki, who is still shaking slightly, his face pale and sweaty.

Loki tumbles out of the car, looking a little green in the face as well. "Thank the heavens above that it stopped…" Loki mutters, shaking from the obvious effects of the electrical shocks. Clint frowns. Aw, the electrical shocks stopped so soon? Oh well. The cops are making a bee line for them. He puts Aiyanna on his back, and glances over to Loki.

"Better start running buddy boy," He suggests, before he takes off with Aiyanna.

* * *

"Agent Maria, look! Loki has gone beyond the 100 yards!"

"What?!" The lady agents looks over at the computer screen. There, lo and behold, a red dot identifying Loki's tracking device is on the screen. And he has indeed gone beyond the 100 yards boundary. And apparently he is heading towards Whole Foods…? "Sir Nick Fury, sir!" Maria announces in a loud military like voice. "We have a Code Runaway, I repeat, a Code Runaway!"

"What in the actual hell?!" Nick exclaims, storming over to the computers. He squints at the red dot running down the map displayed on the screen. He shakes his head.

"It looks like Loki is making a run for it, that idiot. I seriously expected the asshole to have a more creative way to run away!" Nick shakes his head in disappointment. He takes out his phone. "Looks like we gotta call in the Avengers to manhandle Loki is he gets too rough. Hill!"

Maria straightens her posture immediately, hearing her name addressed.

"Gather some SHIELD agents to...Whole Foods, apparently. Evacuate the store and surround the perimeter!"

"Sir, yes sir!"

* * *

Loki feels his heart pounding wildly from the adrenaline, the aftermath of the electrical shocks, and the excercise of trying to lose the Midguardian police. "This is the brightest idea you've had yet!" Loki pants out, as they take a sharp right down an alley. Behind them, the police are yelling wildly at them to stop.

"Shut up Logan, there's been worse situations than this! We can run from a couple of donut eating fat lazy blue suited men!" Clint snaps back. Aiyanna is on his back, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck.

"Are we in trouble because I rode a car?"

"Eh, no, we're not in trouble unless we get caught!"

Loki's lips curl into a smile when he hears the mortal say this. Though he is ill tempered and infuriatingly insolent, he reminded Loki of himself. The rebelness, the impulse to take chances, to defy authority… "C'mon, the grocery is up ahead!" Clint hollers. "Let's get lost in the flash mob ahead!"

"Flash mob!" Loki yells. Up ahead, he indeed sees a 'flash mob' as Clint stated. Masses of mortals crowd the side walk, walking around to and fro as if it were any other normal day in New York.

"Get lost in the crowd, and go into the building that reads Whole Food! See ya on the flip side Logan!" Loki hears Clint shout at him before he disappears into the crowd of people. Dizzy and light headed, Loki glances back, exasperated to see the policemen still on his tail. His eyes search the surrounding buildings. Skimming the signs of the shops and buildings, Loki's eyes land on a wooden sign that reads in green words, _Whole Foods._

_I suppose I have to go in there like the archer said. _Loki thought. He darts off to the side into a group of campers, and storms into the building, panting hard. He is met with the sight of what seems like a Midguardian version of a market trading place, where foods and goods are displayed in rows down the huge room. His eyes scan past old ladies and couples walking by him, and he finally catches sight of Clint and Aiyanna around the oranges aisle. Loki rushes towards them.

"The hell was that?!" Loki exclaims, glaring fiercely at Clint.

He shrugs, though an obvious smirk on his face. "Every man for himself."

"Or herself." Aiyanna reminds them.

"Of course," Clint says, knocking her on the back. "So what do you consider that little adventure to be?"

"Awesome! So, so, awesome!" She exclaims. "Just wait until I tell daddy about this-" The ecstatic grin on Aiyanna's face immediately falters when she mentions her father. She looks down at the ground, clenching the folds of her blue skirt. Clint is quiet as well, and Loki glances away, uncomfortable.

"How about you go find the chicken nuggets down there?" Clint suggests, pushing Aiyanna towards the back.

She nods, silent, the quiet expression not fading from her face, and leaves Clint and Loki alone. Clint turns away from Loki, not saying a word, and walks off. Loki is left alone, not sure what to do, as he watches Clint walk off. He was not familiar to this place, the 'grocery.' He scowls off after the archer. So much for the mortal showing courtesy. Loki decides to follow Aiyanna. He walks off after the direction where she went - but is grabbed on his arm. Loki glances back, seeing Clint once again.

"What are you doing?"

Loki rips his arm from Clint's iron grip. "I am going to accompany Aiyanna to find what she requires. What else?"

"Y'know, I really don't like how close you're getting to the kid."

"How original," Loki says dryily though feels his anger steadily picking up. "Where have I heard that before? Ah yes, all of your other friends."

"You should just drop the facade and be honest or once, God of Lies, as your title goes." Clint scowls.

Loki puts a hand to his chest. "Oh, should I? You're one to talk. A master manipulator of deceit yourself. An assassin. Your life is shrouded with lies and darkness, so what makes you so different from I?" Loki relishes the rage taking form on Clint's face. "Why tell me not to lie, when you so shamelessly lie to yourself and others around you? I've seen your thoughts when I took control of that petty one tracked mind of yours," Loki sneers, taking hold of an orange. At this point Clint is clearly shaking with range. Loki doesn't stop.

"Those lovely thoughts about that partner of yours, Natasha, was it? Hoho. Is your relationship purely platonic or an unrequited love?"

"You shut up you son of a fucking bitch!" Clint snaps, raising his fists.

Loki's eyes flash dangerously. Though he had no idea what the terms of 'bitch' are, he was smart enough to know that it has a deregatory meaning. "Excuse me? What did you accuse Frigga of being?" His eyes narrow. No one dares insult Frigga under his watch.

"You heard me."

"Letting your feelings get the best of you? You know what Natasha would say right now. 'Don't let your emotions get the best of the situation.' A smart, calculating woman. But you should've seen the pure fear on the woman's face when I threatened her of the fate that I had in store for her," Loki mocks. "When you were under my control, I easily could've sent you to kill her myself - and make you do unimaginable methods of pains to your dear one - and before I would've killed you off, I would've made you face the results of a murdered Agent Romanoff-"

_THWACK!_

Before Loki could see it, Clint's fist connects with his jaw. He flies back into shelves of macaroni. He gives out a dry laugh. "See what I mean? Letting such petty feelings get into you!"

"Shut the hell up!" Clint hollers, swinging another punch. Loki dodges this easily this time. "You don't know shit about Natasha and I!" He growls, swinging his leg at Loki. This hit lands on Loki's side, and he crashes into more shelves. "And you're one to fucking talk as well! You lie to yourself and others all of the time and let _your_ emotions get the fucking best of you - and look what happened?! Thousands of people die under your wrath and you got fucking three planets wanting to kill you!" Clint screams, enraged.

Loki struggles to sit up. These words of the archer wormed his way inside him - getting under his skin. _He's right, _A voice told Loki. In a moment of vertigo and diziness, Loki notices that the once filled grocery looks pretty empty now. He looks over to doors, and sees masses of people being led out by SHIELD agents. Agents? It hits Loki. The tracking device on his ankle -

_SMACK!_ Clint uppercuts his fist at Loki's jaw.

Finally, Loki had enough. He grabs whatever is at his side, and swings it at Clint with all of his might.

"GGAHHH!" Clint screams, a squashed orange on his face. Loki would've laughed, but he took his chance to talk reason into Barton.

"Clint, listen to me-" In a blink of an eye, the wind is knocked out of Loki. Something hits Loki's side, knocking him into nearby glass doors of refrigerators. Everything goes dizzy for him. Beside him is the familiar red, white, and blue shield of Captain America. Oh joy…

"Don't worry Barton, we came here as soon as we were called!" Steve exclaims, in his patriotic suit.

"What?" Clint stutters, orange juice dripping from his face. He looks over to the present Black Widow and Bruce Banner. "How are you guys here? I thought that SHIELD assigned you missions or something…"

"Yeah, how are you guys here?" Tony questions from his suit, glancing over to Bruce and Natasha questionably. Clint turns brusquely to the billionaire, a look of suspicion on his face. "I - I mean, gee, I'm sure glad that you're here!"

"Tony, we figured out your little plan about driving us away," Loki hears the flat voice of Natasha state. "I told Bruce and we didn't get shipped off wherever you planned to send us. Instead, we had a nice day at the spa with Pepper." Tony is sputtering in shock at this point. Natasha smirks. "Next time, don't leave your logo on the printing paper."

"Damn it all!" The CEO curses.

"What?" Steve questions, confused.

"Sorry Rogers, you're kinda the only one who fell for for his plan." Bruce says apologetically.

"Like the gullible guy you are Capsicle,"

"Oh c'mon, I'm not that gullible - I mean, am I?"

"GUYS!" Clint interrupts. "Just why are you here? I mean, not that I'm glad you're here, but I was just beating Loki's ass into the ground!"

Loki sits up from the cold boxes of macoroni balls and frozen pizza surrounding him, dazed. He wipes his nose, and sees blood on his sleeve. Just how many times has he been smacked by someone?

"Er, well SHIELD thought that he was holding you and Aiyanna hostage at Whole Foods...for some odd reason."

"Why ever would I hold them hostage? At a damn grocery as well?!" Loki snaps, rubbing his sore temples.

"Yeah, that is kinda stupid hostage plan, isn't it?"

A befuddled look is on Steve's face, as he tries to comprehend the situation. "But...SHIELD found a wrecked Stark Car a few yards away from Whole Foods. And that Loki went over the 100 yards limit."

"I did not crash the car Rogers!" Loki snaps, staggering to his feet. He leans on a nearby shelf of gluten free cookies. "A certain idiot by the name of Clint Barton got the bright idea of letting a little blind girl drive a car to Whole Foods, that's what!"

All at once, the Avengers look at Clint with the intent to throttle. Loki smirks triumphantly, knowing that he'll get the last laugh. The assassin shrinks away, backing up slowly.

"Uhh, can we just get back to the part where we arrest him and throw him to SHIELD? What? No? No hands?"

Suddenly, Aiyanna pops out of nowhere, completely oblivious at what happened. "I found the chicken nuggets!" She yells triumphantly. Then she cocks her head. "Hey, why's it so quiet?"

* * *

Clint glares indignantly at the receipt from Whole Foods on the table laid next to the many tickets given from the police. Seriously, why does five boxes of chicken nuggets from Whole Foods cost over twenty dollars? That's just unnatural. And fucking highway robbery. Not to mention, Clint had to pay for all of these charges. Apparently Tony thought that it would be funny and a lesson to serve Clint about letting Aiyanna drive around in New York. And that Tony is currently being punished by SHIELD by sitting through a two hour scolding personally from Fury about how he shouldn't hack into SHIELD's database.

The archer already served his time - a three hour lecture from Fury and _Steve_ about how he shouldn't let little girls drive around in cars and bring out ex-supervillains to the grocery. Well, there's always been worse and shittier days. If there's one thing that Clint learned from those torturous lectures, was that he is never ever going to babysit again. Ever.

Zero, zero, zero...another zero. Clint's eyes run over the charges on the paper. Maybe now's the good time to under take a new identity so that he won't pay for this crazy amount of money….

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Aiyanna happily eating her chicken nuggets, and chattering away to JARVIS how awesome her day was, obilvious to the drama that took place behind the scenes. "...Clint is the most awesomenest funnest person besides Logan!" She says, beaming.

Clint cracks a smile. "Easy with the improper grammar there kid." He says gruffly, though thinks to himself that babysitting wasn't quite bad as he made it out to be.

* * *

**A/N: Haha, yeah. A funny light hearted chapter. X)**


	20. To Be Running

**A/N: So sorry people. Wow, this is the latest that I updated. Seven nights of no updates! I know! It's ludicrous! (Hehe, ludicrous. I like the sound of that word. Ludicrous.) Some of you must've gotten a heart attack, since some of you know of my...erm, pause tendencies. More apologies, I was in an intense race against the clock to finish my summer homework. I finished it, luckily, just in time! Stupid procrastination, curse it!**

queenImno:

**Well don't forget, Loki kinda taunted Clint and hit his weakest point where he knew where it'd really hurt him. Both were equally wrong in their actions. :-/ As much as your idea sounds simple, we don't want to make things so easy for our characters, do we?**

ButtFace:

**At least you where your name loud and proud. As for the part where Aiyanna called him 'Loki' I'm sorry - that was a typo. XD I tend to not look over my chapters before I upload them - I know, bad habit. And don't worry, I'm not planning to abandon this story any time freaking soon if my name isn't YukiGirl21. *puts on sunglasses***

Sapphire Roz:

**Cliiinnttt-ish. XD Sometimes, even master assassins have their moments of stupid. XDXDXD There will for sure be more funny chapters in the future.**

Lady Syndra:

**Yeah, ain't nobody gonna call him boring and get away with it! *sass nods* Nuh-uh!**

fan-de-carlisle-cullen:

**Calm down, calm down. 0_0 Loki wouldn't have died from the electrocutions - though he is drained of his Asguardian super strength and magic and all of that good stuff, he still is durable to normal plain inflictions - but he can totally feel the pain. Okay, now that you point out the pettiness of Clint's little revenge to Loki by using Loki, well, okay, he **_**does**_ **seem like an asshole. Then again, I meant both Loki and Clint to be equal assholes to each other, but it **_**is**_ **wrong to bring a little kid into it. Oh well. Aiyanna seemed to enjoy her early driving lessons anyway. As for HOW Aiyanna will find out Loki's identity...I'm not gonna say a word about it. *zips close mouth***

haithere:

**I wouldn't call Clint jealous of Aiyanna's relationship with Loki - just that he was really miffed and irritated that someone would call him "boring" and that they would rather hang out with the bastard he hates most than him. XD**

caramelkitkat:

**I'm glad that you understand Clint's anger - most people seem to think that he's the idiotic bad guy from last chapter when Loki is just as guilty. I mean, it's not like Loki said an apology to the guy...and what do you mean if Loki is changing? If you're asking if he's changing in his personality or character or whatever, I wouldn't call it that. One cannot just change themselves overnight.**

AmeliaRoseOswald:

**Glad that you liked the last chapter! I just meant it to be funny, but most people seem to be hatin' on Clint.**

Signuun/Luna:

**Cool that you have an account now, that's great. I would like to get driving lessons from Clint, lucky Aiyanna. XD**

person D:

**Hey, Clint just improvised it. And no, he isn't jealous of Aiyanna liking Loki more than him, that's no matter or concern to our archer. :3**

Snow Shadow:

**Apparently Clint. It is pretty funny to think Loki would hold people hostage at a grocery store, am I right? **

Guest:

**Glad that you had a good laugh! I really meant the last chapter to be a lighthearted one (with its dark moments sprinkled here and there). There shall be more funny, lighthearted chapters. **

.9:

**Once again, glad to see someone think its funny. Sad enough, I didn't read the Graveyard book...welp, onto my reading list!**

literaturelife17:

**Thank you! I want some lighthearted and funny moments between all of the characters! It's so fun to write those type of chapters!**

* * *

**"****The whole world can become the enemy when you lose what you love." **

― _**Kristina McMorris, Bridge of Scarlet Leaves**_

* * *

**~Chapter Twenty~**

"Damn it Peps, I have no fan-tucking idea what to do in this situation," Tony growls in frustration, swirling around a glass of brandy in his hand. Pepper promptly takes it from his hand, taking a sip then throwing the rest of the drink over her shoulder into the sink. Tony gives her an indignant look, in which Pepper returns the stern look that would be equal to a strict headmaster. The black haired man gives out a sigh, stroking his beard. Pepper tenderly puts her hands on his shoulders.

"Drinking isn't going to help you clear your head anytime soon Anthony Stark…"

"Well when I'm drunk, I come up with the greatest ideas, don't I?" He grins broadly, grabbing a hold of her arms and wrapping them around his neck. Pepper frowns, placing her chin on top of Tony's spiky hair.

"Quote on quote, 'great ideas.'" She rolls her eyes, and shakes her head. "May-be if you haven't got those bright ideas of yours, to make a silly bet with Aiyanna, you wouldn't be so worked up over this."

"Haha, Pepper, I do not know what you speak of!" Tony says in a fake sarcastic tone.

Pepper gives out a light chuckle, flicking his nose.

"Oof!" He says in reaction rubbing the place where his nose was hit.

Pepper idly strokes Tony's hair, staring off into space. "...Are you still having insomnia, Tony?"

"...More or less."

Worry and anxiety washes Pepper all at once. "Tony. Look at me." She takes him firmly by his face. His dark brown eyes that usually twinkle with their sarcasm and mischief, seems dulled with tiredness. "This has been going on for over a week Tony. A normal person cannot stay up that long."

"Peps, we both know that the last thing I am is _normal!_" Tony says defensively, clearly trying to make a joke out of the situation.

Pepper does not even so much crack a smile. "This is not the time to laugh it off Tony. You have only been getting a minimum of two hours worth of sleep - that is not enough for you to run on, even with coffee." Tony's face seem to droops in distraught in her hands, his worry lines creasing his forehead and the corners of his eyes. She smooths her hand over his brow softly. Pepper loved every detail of them.

"I'm...I'm sorry Peps. It's just that the nightmares…" He gazes out the window, displaying New York's view. Some towers and buildings are covered with stilts and construction workers, still under rennovation. Pepper takes hold of his hands, caressing them softly. She's there for him. "...I shouldn't be afraid of such stupid mind induced hallucinations," He says, pouting with indignance. "But they're reminders, Pepper. Those things that I've seen, way out there and what _is_ way out there - it's dangerous. Dangerous as hell." Tony's grip tightens around Pepper's hand. She grips back as well. "I just don't know how to protect you from that Pepper. Including Aiyanna, the kiddo."

"I understand Tony." Pepper says sincerely, rubbing his hand repeatedly. "I understand. And that's why I want you to help yourself. Yes, I know that there are bunches of crazy unknown stuff out there beyond Earth, things that are stronger and dangerous. But it's no use dwelling and worrying over the obvious fact."

Tony glances up, giving a lopsided smile. "Peps, anxiety happens to be your forte."

Pepper ignores this comment, though a small smile is curled on her lips. She strokes back a stray lone hair that is hanging out of place. It easily pops back up. "Point is, don't dwell on what seems an unavoidable thing when what you could be doing, is living life and doing meaningful things."

"Wise words Obi-Wan-Kenobi."

Pepper lightly punches Tony at his arm. "You and your silly references."

"You and your silly preferences." Tony replies, getting closer to Pepper. She takes hold of his shoulder, as his big hands take hold of her waist. They lean in, their lips connecting. Pepper feels warmth travel up her face, and the warmth coming from Tony's, as they embrace each other. She can smell the faint fragrance of his musky cologne, feel his prickly stubbled chin...

"Maybe you shouldn't stayed cooped up in the tower all day," Pepper suggests, once she parted from Tony. He frowns childishly, clearly wanting it to last longer, but Pepper swats his puppy face off. "You should use the time to actually spend more time with Aiyanna. She needs to start spending quality time with you." She says, poking his chest. "We need to at least make the best of her new life right now and at least try to make her forget her grief, even if it is just for a little bit."

Tony frowns, swirling his spoon around in his cup. He looks down at the muddy liquid in the mug. "How do you think I should pull it off? I need to go to work today so…"

"I'll run it."

"Eh?"

"You need to spend time with Aiyanna. At least try to fill in that fatherly role. Take her somewhere today. Someplace nice."

"...I guess it's worth a shot."

Pepper smiles, pecking him on the cheek. "Great. I'll start getting dressed up for work. And you, start doing your work with Aiyanna." She says briskly, heading to their bedroom.

* * *

_Some quality time, huh?_ Tony thought to himself, sipping some coffee. He looks over to Aiyanna, who is molding some play-doh into little figures. He wondered what fathers and daughters possibly did for "quality time." Well, it can't be _that_ different from a mother and daughter spending time with each other, right? Tony scratched his chin, shifting his position. Now that he thinks of it, it must be pretty frustrating and inconvenient to be blind. You can't play video games or watch movies...Then again, Aiyanna has been blind ever since birth and she has synesthesia, so she isn't really missing out on much, hopefully.

"Aiyanna, kid, if you want to go anywhere, where would you wanna go?" Tony asks.

"Anywhere, huh? Ooh, ooh, I know!" Aiyanna's face lightens up. "How about the Amazon?"

"...Maybe when you're older. And do you know how much bug spray we're gonna have to carry? A lot!"

This gets a pout of Aiyanna. "How about mountain hiking?"

"Hahaha Aiyanna, you jokester you! Just so you know, I cannot and will not go anywhere beyond urban areas and/or without technology surrounding me."

Aiyanna crosses her arms. "You're so boring Tony!" She says, clearly irritated. Her cheeks are flushed a little red, her lips puckered out forming a sour expression.

Tony grins loftily at her. "I dunno kid, I dunno, maybe it's because _normal_ kids wouldn't ask for such extravagant things. Not that not being normal is not good, if that makes any sense." This statement earns a befuddled look from Aiyanna. "Point is kid, let's start out small. What's something that you liked and always wanted to do?" Tony suggests.

Aiyanna's face scrunches up. "Uhm...uhm I guess I wanna go to a piano concert," Aiyanna's eyes light up at the mention of her favorite instrument. "My daddy and I went to one when I was eight...it was fun." Toyn's eyes lower at the mention of her father. Aiyanna seemed to realize that she brought up the matters of her daddy, and squishes the little play-doh figures in her hands into shapeless masses. "What's happening to daddy's body right now?" Aiyanna suddenly ask. Tony squeezes the mug in his hands, uneasy. Here it goes with the questions again…

"Is it just lying down in a box, buried? What if someone digs him up?"

Tony laughs weakly, even though he knew that the reaction is uncalled for. What is with these questions? One moment, the kid seemed completely fine and then she reverts back to the matters of her father's death… "Kid, I highly doubt that grave robbers nowadays exist."

"Grave robbers?"

"Y'know, guys who steal dead bodies for their evil experiments."

Aiyanna gasps.

"Don't worry, don't worry, there's a night patrol officer that hangs around the cemetery. Besides, graveyard robbing died out a long time ago, He quickly reassures the little girl.

Aiyanna rolls the play-doh around in her hand, forming it into a round sphere. "What's gonna happen to daddy's body now?"

_Let's see, well, a bunch of worms and bugs will get inside and start eating the body, the body will decompose, it'll turn into a skeleton and probably break down into dust…_ Tony felt sweat breaking down his forehead. Okay, the explanation is a little graphic for a ten year old, even if she is precocious. He scans the room, and catches sight of a withering plant placed in a red pot catches his eye. Oops, he probably should've watered it a couple of days ago...He takes the pot, and sits next to Aiyanna.

"Touch this plant." He orders.

She gives a strange look to Tony, but obliges. She bites her bottom lip. "It's dry and crumbly. Is it dying?"

"Yeah. Anything that lives, has to die eventually," Tony explains. "This plant that's dying, is breaking away."

"You mean that daddy's body is going to break and crumble away?" Aiyanna's eyes widen in shock and horror.

"Eventually kid," Tony replies, patting her shoulder. "But it's going to take years and years until that happens to the body. It's called decomposition."

"De-com-piz-zition?" Aiyanna repeats, clearly pronouncing it wrong.

Tony chuckles at her mispronunciation. "Yep. Dead bodies rot away as time goes on, decomposing. But what happens is when everything is broken down, the remains are mixed with the soil. Then, plants would grow over the grave."

"Really?"

"I guess. But that'll take lots of time."

"So Daddy's gonna turn into a plant?"

"Uuuhhhhhh, not exactly…" Tony smooths back his hair. Explaining things to a little kid about the matters of death, is pretty damn hard. Not to mention, uncomfortable. It is an uneasy burden and responsibility that Tony does not want to hold by himself. "Aaaaannnyway, you said that you wanted to see a piano concert. You wanna go to one today? You can't stay in here forever."

"I like staying in here."

"Uh-huh, well, all you need kid is a breath of fresh air."

"...Okay, if I'm with you Tony, that's okay."

"Great! Let's go.

* * *

Once Aiyanna accepted Tony's offer, Tony quickly hacked into the VIP reservations for any piano concerts nearby. He was sure that nobody would miss their reservations - yeah, he's a selfish person, what do you expect? One of the concerts that are closest, happened to be a famous piano player named Yiruma. Whoever that is. Tony fumbled with his tie, putting on a long trench coat. Although the piano concert is about twenty blocks away, Tony unfortunately couldn't simply call a chauffuer to drive them there. There is too much road blocks and constructions blocking the streets, and any other route would take too long. He would've been more than glad to take the Iron Suit, which would take him and Aiyanna there in five minutes flat, but of course, Pepper would have his head for that. That leaves the option of..._walking._ If Tony and Aiyanna didn't arrive at the place in approximately eleven minutes, they won't be allowed inside anymore. Hey, last minute planning is Tony's speciality anywho.

Tony puts a fedora and sunglasses on. Normally he would've freely walked outside in public, gladly taking in the adoring fans nearby. But unless if he and Aiyanna wanted to make it in time, well, he had to hide his handsome face from public eyes. "It's go time!" Tony says to his reflection, flashing a wide bright smile and thumbs up.

A few minutes later, Tony and Aiyanna are walking out on the sidewalks. In Tony's head, the _Mission Impossible_ theme is playing out in his head. _Stealth mode activate. Objective: Get to piano concert within eleven minutes without getting noticed. _Aiyanna's small hand is clutching onto Tony's sleeve. "We're walking so fast Tony!" She complains, clearly struggling to keep up with his pace.

"Sorry kid, but we gotta move fast." The two brush past masses of people through the always crowded streets of New York. Despite the Battle of New York, people in the city stubbournly carried on with their daily lives, even though most of the buildings and streets are in ruins. Strangely, even more tourists came to New York. But Tony can easily figure out as to why tourists are suddenly flooding into the city that never sleeps. Because they want to get a good look of the Tony Stark, Iron Man, or course! And the other Avengers, but mostly him.

As Aiyanna and Tony were walking, Tony started to appreciate the fact that dozens of his fans aren't closely following him accompanied by mafia of reporters tracking down his every move. Yeah, it's a little entertaining and funny to see so much people scrambling after him, admiring him, but annoying. The reporters are always clambering for the 'latest scandal' in Tony Stark's life, in which Tony feeds them endless and outrageous stories that they eat up. Though sometimes, the fake scandal stories can get a little out of hand...and then there's the fangirls. A shudder goes through Tony. _Fangirls. _Such a scary type of women. Not to mention, a little bit psychotic. Once Tony had to deal with a cult of fangirls dedicated to him.

He was open to any types of fans, but frankly, those cult of 'Lady Starks' as they called themselves, managed to creep him out. They camped outside of Stark Tower, worshipping his building or something. He had to get a restraining order on those weirdos.

So now, just walking in New York City with Aiyanna, felt relaxing to Tony. Sometimes, it felt good to be normal. Maybe Tony could do this more often and actually walk into Starbucks and order a nice cup of coffee with a cookie, without a bunch of people surrounding him…

_Whoooosshhhh!_ A gust of wind blows through Tony.

"Woah!" He cries out, raising his arm to his face. Before he knows it, his fedora blows off his head. "Aw crap!" He curses, dragging Aiyanna to chase the hat. Blindly chasing after it, he ends up crashing into a fat man with a Mets t-shirt. Tony bounces off his huge belly, crashing on the ground with Aiyanna. Tony's sunglasses fall off from the sudden impact. "Oof!" They both cry out.

"Hey, watch it bub!" Fat Mets Guy says, his piggy eyes glaring down at Tony. His eyes widen in realization, seeing Tony's uncovered appearance. _Oh shit. _Tony thought simply. "W-wait! You're Tony Stark! Iron Man! Holy shit! An honor to meet you!" Fat Mets Guy cries out. "Hey everyone, look, it's Tony Stark! Iron Man! Right here, in the flesh!"

_Shitshitshitshit, now's not the time!_ Tony thought frantically. A few people already stopped in their tracks, goggling at Tony as if he were a new species. He scrambles to his feet. "What's happening Tony?" Aiyanna questions, looking a little freaked out at the screams of women around them when they catch sight of Tony Stark.

"Eh, nothing. Hey - hey kid, a little heads up. RUN FOR IT!" He bellows out, breaking through the ring of tourists that are eagerly taking pictures of him.

"Eeek!" Aiyanna yells, getting dragged along with Tony.

"Hey, where are you going Tony pal?! Come back!" Fat Mets Guy hollers from behind them.

"And cue chasing montage," Tony mutters, glancing back to see about fifty people chasing him and Aiyanna. Tony gives out a loud groan, shoving some people out of the way, who are oogling at him as well. He hoists a very flustered Aiyanna on his back, and takes a sharp left. To his misfortune, he sees an ABC news car, the camera crew and the blond chick news reporter that Tony sees on the news nearly every morning. Once again, on perfect cue, the whole camera team turns to him.

"God damnit!"

* * *

Loki was bored.

The insolent Man of Iron decided to punish him, Loki, by taking away all of his books for a whole entire day. Supposedly, he should be punished as well as Clint, since he 'provoked' him in the first place. Hel, that Tony Stark, to simply put it in mortal terms, is a pain in the ass. As Loki sits on the couch, bored out of his mind, a small little Midguardian device catches his eye. He looks closer at it, recognizing it. It is called a "remote" a device that can control moving pictures on the other Midgurdian device, the 'TV.'

The trickster recalled the little Midguardian, Aiyanna, turned on the TV on one of the days she came to visit him. For a whole hour, he braced through watching the idiotic adventures of a sponge and sea star that lived under the sea. Loki finally breached his breaking point, and promptly flipped off the TV, scolding Aiyanna for watching such mind numbing garbage. Really, the Midguardians' imaginations can be so nonsensical and absurd at times!

Loki takes the remote, randomly pressing the buttons. He felt his actions to be quite pointless, not to mention, ignorant. After a few minutes of his effort, the TV finally turned on. The first thing he sees on the TV is the moving pictures of a person running through the streets of New York. Loki was just about to press another random button to a more interesting moving picture display, when a voice from the TV says, "...And here we are, live on the streets of New York, Tony Stark, widely known as the superhero Iron Man, running through the streets like a maniac with a mysterious little girl on his back!"

Loki's head snaps up, hearing the mention of the mortal. The screen changes to the scene of blurry footage, where Tony Stark is running like a madman, away from the pursuers, with Aiyanna on his back. A twinge of concern is felt by Loki for the mortal girl. What a mad situation she is stuck in right now. "Why is Tony Stark dressed in such shady clothing and carrying the unidentified little girl on his back? What is this latest juicy story about Tony Stark this time? Could he have kidnapped her or saved her from yet another malicious supervillain?" A mortal woman's voice says.

Loki snorts. How could these mortals make such wound up, exaggerrated assumptions? From what the Asguardian is aware of, Tony Stark is a widely known figure and upperclassman in the caste system of the mortal world. Quite popular and respected - well, Loki wouldn't actually call it respected, the way the man is currently being chased and hunted down by his adoring fans.

He couldn't believe how disrespectful mortals are towards highly known social figures in society. When Loki was younger, any open disrespect towards him or Thor is considered offensive and treason in Asguardian standards. But here mortals are so free to openly disrespect each other, no matter what position you hold in society. Because they are free to do as they wish. Loki scoffs at the word. _Free. _What sort of thing is that? There is truly no such thing as freedom. One way or another, you are either being used or manipulated by someone else in your life. As a boy, Loki always considered himself free - oh, but how wrong he was.

Now, Loki feels trapped. A caged animal. Each lie and deception he fabricates, more chains bind him down. It is suffocating. Engulfing. Though Loki preferrred himself to be the master of the game, he knows deep in the back of his mind that another force that he has to depend on, is controlling him. 'Freedom is humanity's greatest lie,' Loki recalled himself quoting to the dark skinned mortal, Nick Fury. Loki firmly believed in what he said.

Midguardians are such misguided, wandering things. Beings that are so desperate to have some sort of ruler. They are so cluttered and lost. So easily able to kill each other when they could be united and have their potential expanded. When Loki made the deal with Thanos and Chitauri, he observed the Midguardians a bit more. They were feral. Advanced some way in technology by Asguardians standards, but at the same time, mostly primitive and inferior to Asguardians. Loki managed to comfort and calm himself down with the information that the Midguardians, indeed, needed a ruler.

'They are not real people,' is what he told himself.

'Midguardian life is something like a mayfly, a little lifespan compared to Asguardians. They are inferior and lost in every way,' is what he reassured himself.

'It does not matter how much damage and lost of life will occur in the process of the invasion - they need proper guidance. You are doing them a favor and mercy of deciding to rule over then. That is what they need. A ruler,' is what he comforted himself.

'A true sin is the killing of a fellow Asguardian.'

Now that Loki looks back at this, he felt that these words that he tried to so blatantly tell himself were sugar coated. Lies. Lies, lies, lies. Always running from the truth. And Loki so shamelessly believed in his deceitful words. A coward's move. Loki felt his hands clench. He recalls Aiyanna's father, one of the mortals that he directly killed. Strangely and pathetically, he still cannot find himself to feel anything about the man's death. His death is meaningless. Though it meant so much to Aiyanna, the little Midguardian. He remembered her deadly, hateful words when she spoke of him. Discomfort is what registered in his mind. He remembered telling her to see 'Loki' from a different perspective - how hypocritical.

A bitter laugh escapes Loki. He teaches a child to see things from another persepctive, when he himself cannot see anything from another perspective. All he can register is _his_ way, _his _vision, _his _point of view. Loki found it shameful how he couldn't even bring himself to see the Midguardians' perspectives of his actions.

_Because you are afraid,_ A venomous voice hisses in his head, all to similar to The Other's voice. _How more cowardly can it be for one to so easily lie to their self? How more ironic can it be that the Loki, the God of Lies, has been lied to his whole entire life? Always running away form yourself, the truth, which causes destruction wherever you go. So pitiful. _Loki tears at his head. He wanted the voice to get out. Because he knows that the voice is right. A painful reminder.

Loki feels an iron taste spike in his mouth. His tongue feels ragged and stinging. Blood. Loki squeezes his eyes shut.

The voice is right. He is always running. And he can never be free.

* * *

"Tony Stark, who is this young lady?" Microphones are shoved in Tony's face. Aiyanna is clinging on to Tony, her face buried in his coat.

"With no apologies and grace, let me say, please kindly fuck off so that we can go to a piano recital." He states to the annoying reporter.

Of course, they ignore his rather rude statement. Reporters are used to such bad mouthing from celebrities they happen to stalk. "Is this child really yours Tony? Or is she secret child you had from an affair?"

Irritation spikes within Tony. The billionaire looks over at the reporter who asked that particularly irritable question. The reporter who asked the question that Tony found very offending, is recording the forced interview with a smart phone. Wow, how professional. Tony looks over the young supposed reporter. Pretty boy face. Leather jacket, converse shoes. Ha. He's obviously a noob reporter that recently dropped of college that's trying to update for his blogs. Tony has seen those type of reporters. The noobs who think that they were 'all that.' Tony flashes a fake, toothy smile at reporter. "Oh-ho, an affair? How scandulous, what's your name. Let me guess, a college drop out that managed to worm his way into the Wall Street papers?"

Noob Reporter's jaw drops open, his face turning scarlet red. "Just so you know I-I got a college degree!"

"Yeah, whatever, that's what they all say." Tony says, grabbing his phone and throwing it over his shoulders out to the streets, leaving Noob Reporter speechless. "Hey, I'm a rich dick, what can ya say?" Noob Reporter is sputtering, his eyes burning with hatred. Before he could say anything more, reporters shove him out of the ring that is tightly surrounding Tony and Aiyanna.

"Look people, if you won't get out of our faces, I'll tell you the whole classic truth. This kid here is Aiyanna, my adopted daughter. She used to be the daughter of my old friends, Jacob Williams, but he was murdered. I took her in as my own kid. There, whole story, now can we leave?" Tony says quickly, glaring at the surrounding reporters. Usually he entertained himself being with these insufferable type of people, but now, his patience is unfortunately running thin. And Aiyanna seems to be scared out of her mind.

More questions erupted from the reporters, as the cameras spastically flash. "Who is the murderer of Jacob William's father?" "How long have you known Aiyanna and her father?" Is Aiyanna Williams, or should we say, Aiyanna Stark, going to be the next heir to the Stark Industries?" "Are you doing this out of the kindness of your heart Tony Stark, or is this only to gain publicity?" "Is Aiyanna Stark happy to be living in your home where such unstable settings for home life take place?" "Are you sure you're ready for the responsibility of taking care of a kid?" One question after another, the reporters chatter on.

Tony feels Aiyanna's little hands gripping into his hands, tighter and tighter. Her face is still buried into his coat. "Kid, I'm sorry…" He mutters apologetically to her.

A reporter with an unconvincing shade of red hair, leans next to Aiyanna, shoving yet another microphone near her head. "Aiyanna, is Tony Stark the father you never had? Is he a much better father than Jacob Williams?"

Tony feels himself pale. Oh, that Bad Hair Reporter did not just take it there - !

Aiyanna jumps off of Tony, her face completely red. She shuts her eyes, and raises her head. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" She screams, erupting, clearly having enough. It seemed like a scream that would go on forever and ever. Tears are leaking out of her eyes. "Shut up, shut up, shut up!" She hollers at the top of her lungs, stomping her feet. "All of you SHUT UP AND GET AWAY FROM US!" She sobs.

This completely takes everyone by surprise. All at once, the reporters seem to shut up, backing away momentarily. Tony seizes their chance of surprise. He picks up Aiaynna, charging out of the circle, and blindly runs to wherever they can possibly get away from the fucking crazy reporters. Tony feels himself gritting his teeth, hearing the sobs from Aiyanna as they both run away from the scene. Hopefully running away from the mob will finally shake them off and they can escape from the jerk asses.

Tony tears through the crowds ahead as fast as possible, his hands wrapped around Aiyanna's little ones.

So much for quality time.

* * *

**A/N: That's the chapter! Super long isn't it? I'm sorry for the late update people, you people must be angry with me. XD Let me warn you, my updates will be slower now that I'm back in school. My update schedule might change to updating chapters for 'To Be a Friend' every Sunday. DX I'm sorry peeps, but I have to commit to school. It's gonna get rough and tough for me in this particular year. Wish me luck! And reviews please!**


	21. To Be Responsible

**A/N: Hurrah, we reached 200 reviews. Thanks so much for the support that all of you are giving me - it means a lot. Phew, such a long time it's been, hasn't it fellow friends? I decided that my daily update schedule will now take place only either on Fridays and Sundays. So be prepared!**

fan-de-carlisle-cullen:

**Yes, yes indeed. You just gotta feel sorry for the celebrities. And high five, I love Yiruma too! **

Sapphire Roz:

**The media will do anything to get a story, **_**anything.**_ **Even if it means being complete and utter assholes to other people, they'll get that story. :(**

AmeliaRoseOswald:

**I know. Just imagine having a bunch of people all up in your personal space asking you a bunch of offending question. )X**

ButtFace:

**Very much so. **

Snow Shadow:

**Nah, I wouldn't say that he's scared of the press, more likely viewing them as very annoying things that happen to be hounding his personal space. **

Signuun:

**Glad to see you so excited! :D Thank you, don't worry, Aiyanna will be comforted by Tony in this chapter...feeeellllzzzzz will appear, I warn you.**

Lady Syndra:

**I know right? Though Aiyanna couldn't see the lights and all that, having people scream off in your ear a bunch of questions is pretty upsetting. **

.9:

**Sorry, like I said, school's catching up with me. Mah update speed will be slower nowadays, unfortunately. **

queenlmno:

**Yep, yep. Can't make it too easy without emotionally damaging the characters, can't we? ;D I'm such a cruel person. XD**

ZabuzasGirl:

**Like I said, updates are going to be much slower from this point on, to flash you a heads up. **

winter morning frost:

**As I stated to you through PM, no, Loki was not mind controlled - at least in my fic. As you know, I don't like that theory. It's a flimsy and weak theory to excuse Loki from his actions. And thanks for reviewing!**

Guest:

**Relax, relax, I won't abandon this story! (Hopefully…!) I just might possibly take hiatuses or long breaks. XD Let's hope that won't happen! **

hateme101:

**Whatever do you mean? I just only added a bit of my interpretation into his character as well as humor.**

* * *

**~Chapter Twenty-One~**

"Whew...I think we lost em, those crazy weirdos." Tony pants, plopping down on a bench. Aiyanna sits next to him, though looks shaken and distant. The CEO sighs, examining a golden yellow leaf beside him. Leaves are gold, red, orange, and brown scattered around everywhere, given that it's the season of fall. There is a cool crisp in the air, as well as a pleasant wind that blows in every once in a while. People go about their daily business in the park, jogging, walking their dogs, playing frisbee, bird watching. Oblivious to the drama that Tony and Aiyanna faced five minutes ago. He sighs, kicking away some more leaves piled up beneath him. Well, they are definitely late for the piano concert.

"...Sorry kid. That we didn't make it to the concert. And those incredibly annoying pain in the ass reporters. They're crazy." Tony says quickly, all in one breath. Aiyanna is quiet, fiddling with a leaf in her hand. "You know, I kinda sorta have to deal with them daily, everyday of my waking moment." Aiyanna glances up, her expression set in shock.

"That's horrible! How can you deal with such mean people?"

"More or less, I got used to it. But dealing with them can be pretty irritating at times, like an annoying mosquito bite." Tony shrugs, straightening his new pair of shades on his face. "But I realize, it's gonna be pretty frustrating for you, huh?" Aiyanna nods, chewing her bottom lip. Tony slides closer to her, and awkwardly plops an arm over her shoulder. "Just...just think of those guys as a bunch of pigeons. They surround you when you have food and then they go away if you try to hit em." Tony pauses. "Damn that was a bad analogy, wasn't it kid?"

"How do you deal with them Tony?" Aiyanna suddenly asks, letting the golden yellow leaf drop from her hand. It gracefully flutters to the ground.

Tony glances up at the sky, as more leaves gently flutter down. Now that's a good question. When did he stopped caring about the media hounds? When did he learned how to deal with them? "...I guess there just came the point where I stopped caring about what they said, what they think. Cuz' they don't _really _know me kid. Plus I'm rich." Tony cracks a smug smile at this. Aiyanna only leans her head, looking uncertain at this explanation. He scratches the back of his head, wondering how he could possibly make Aiyanna comprehend and understand how to deal with the media.

"Kid, here's the thing. These type of guys will always be out there. And there's always gonna be _those_ type of guys trying to mess with your life. No matter how much you tell them, beg them to just leave you alone to your own life, they'll only twist up the truth about who you really are as a person even more. That's the beauty of the media. But I guess you really can't blame them, since they need jobs. At the same time, I find it pretty pathetic how they can only make money off of ruining people's lives and exaggerrating stories. But what can you do?"

He leans back, stretching. "I used to be like you kid….You know, what my parents died, the reporters had a field day. Making such crazy stories and such. I was pretty pissed. I knew the truth. I knew what really happened to them. I just wondered why they couldn't back off, or at least tell the truth. It went on like that for a couple of more years, and then one day, when I finally reached the top, gained ownership of Stark Industries, and became rich-ass CEO, I realized that I didn't care what others thought anymore. Because one, I'm richer than everyone else, and two, I don't freaking care about what anyone else thinks. And kid, if you're going to be living the Stark-lifestyle, I have to break it to you, you're going to have to learn how to deal with it."

Aiyanna's expression deepens into a frown, but she doesn't comment. Tony continues trying to not let Aiyanna's low spirits get to him. "It's not like I'm asking you to stop caring this instant - I have to admit, it's pretty damn hard to stop caring about what others think. And you're going through a pretty difficult time right now. But I'm saying you're going to have to eventually get used to it. But no matter how hard it's gonna be, I'm gonna be there for ya kid. _They're_ gonna be there for you." Tony adds on, remembering Pepper and the Avengers. And even...Loki.

"And even if you are a normal kid, there are people out there that will try to ruin your life and tell lies," Tony compares this statement to Loki. He felt protectiveness tug at his heart. He now realizes that Aiyanna _is_ dealing with a person of deception - and he's just standing by, watching them bond as the lies pile up. What's a guy to do? Tony shakes this thought from his head. "Everyday, you just gotta ask yourself: Am I going to believe what does jackasses say about me? The answer is up to you kid. Whether you let people affect your life and whatnot, is all up to you. But I think the best answer is to just ignore and not care what others think, or else everyday will be crappy for you. See what I mean?"

The little blind girl nods, but still seems a little unsure, not looking quite roused by Tony's words of reassurance. She then asks, "Tony, if I go to school, what if everyone already knows me just because I have you for a dad? What if everyone already knows that my real daddy died?" Tony couldn't help but wince at the fact that Aiyanna used the term "real" daddy. But at the same time he can understand it. "And will they only like me just because you're my new dad?"

Tony blinks. Yet another good mind racking question. "...I guess that depends on what type of school you're gonna go to." He states. "One thing for sure, I don't want you to go to some rich preppy school where almost all of the kids there are stuck up snobby assholes with rich daddies and housewife moms. I want to give you the best and almost normal life that I never got the chance to have." He pauses. "So...so don't you worry about it." Aiyanna nods. Though her little round face is still solemn, not returning to its normal state of childishness innocence.

The billionaire felt a little uncomfortable seeing Aiyanna in this downcast state. His gaze lands over on a nearby ice-cream cart, not too far from them. He pats her back awkwardly. "Ehhh...you wanna get some ice-cream? That might make our day a little less crappy-ish."

Aiyanna shakes her head in answer, tugging at her necklace. "I...I don't want to eat ice-cream." She quickly shakes her head. Her eyes look glazed, but Tony doesn't notice. He gives a fake dramatic gasp.

"A kid...that doesn't...like ice-cream?! Dear god Aiyanna, just what kinda child are you?" Tony says, teasing her.

Much to his shock and stress, tears leak out of Aiyanna's eyes. "Woah...kid, kid. Are you mad? Uhm...was it something I said?" Tony asks, talking faster. He wipes Aiyanna's eyes. She is crying softly, her shoulders shaking abruptly every once in awhile.

"I...I want my daddy…" She weeps quietly, her voice shaky. "I want...t-to talk to him...I want him…" She cries harder, covering her face. "I miss h-him s-s-so much Tony...I miss him, I miss him, I miss him…"

Tony is silent, not sure how to react to this. _Don't sweat it Tony. Don't sweat it. Dad 101 Anthony Stark, how to comfort a kid. This is gonna be easy, am I right? _Contemplating the situation within five seconds, Tony manages to boil the situation down on how he probably should react. Telling the kid that it's going to be all okay is certainly not a way to comfort her when things clearly _aren't _going to be 'okay' in a long while. Tony vaguely recalled long distant relatives coming to his parents' funeral. All he could remember from them, is them repeatedly telling him that it'll be okay. Tony hated that answer, when things seem hopelessly impossible, because isn't it fucking obvious that things weren't going to go smooth and sunshine rainbowy fine? He's quite the cynical bastard isn't he?

Telling the kid to not be sad won't work either. Tony recalled himself the many times he drowned himself in alcohol and partying at clubs to numb his real feelings - but that didn't work. As much as he hated being in touch with his feelings, they were gnawing inside of him, running around his head and overriding his logic like an annoying virus. Still, he couldn't deny the fact that emotions existed - the best way to deal with them is just to face them.

So the thing he did was simply put an arm over Aiyanna, and let her cry it out. Both of them did not speak for a couple of minutes. When her crying seemed to quiet down, Tony finally spoke. "So you miss him huh?" _Way to state the obvious Stark-Man. _

Aiyanna nods, a hiccup escaping her.

"And you don't want to eat ice-cream, huh?"

Another nod.

"And I'm guessing that you'd eat chicken nuggets over ice-cream anyday, won't ya?"

Another nod.

"Huh. You're one weird kid."

Aiyanna looks away.

Tony raises his hands. "Sorry, sorry kid. I mean, god, I can't say one thing without making some snarky comment, can't I?" He taps his watch. "Let's talk about your dad then. Would that make you feel better?"

A pause. Then a nod.

Tony couldn't help but feel discomfort twinge in his stomach. "...Okay then. Let's start off with question numero uno: What's the deal with the chicken nuggets?"

Aiyanna is quiet for a moment. She sniffles loudly. "Daddy was always bad at cooking." She murmurs. "Everything that he cooked he always burnt." A small giggle escapes Aiyanna, her little face looking nostalgic. Tony managed to crack a smile at this too, recalling the memories of Jacob attempting to cook Tony's birthday cake when they were both in boarding school. "But he really liked cooking even though he makes icky food. He bought lots of cookbooks, telling me everyday that he was going to cook something new. Even though he almost always ended up burning the food, he kept on doing it. It was so silly, but I thought that he was really funny for doing it." Aiyanna is fingering her necklace more, rolling one of the colorful beads between her small fingers.

"The only thing he could cook, was chicken nuggets." Tony swore that he felt his jaw fall slack open at the revelation. _Holy shit on a stick, why didn't I figure that earlier? _Tony slaps his forehead, feeling stupid that he didn't figure out the obvious sooner. "He cooked chicken nuggets really good Tony...they were really yummy...I missed how he cooked them…" Aiyanna says, her voice getting quieter as she talked about her dad. Tony leans his elbows on his legs, raising his hand to his chin.

"I see, I see...ha, I remember your dad's cooking. Yeah, it was pretty terrible," He gives out a snort, remembering one particular memory. "Y'know, how I knew your dad when we were younger, right? Well this one time, when we were like, fifteen or fourteen years old, we tried cooking some cookies. Or more likely, Jacob wanted to cook them. He just dragged me along, claiming that he 'finally found the secret to making the perfect chocolate chip cookies.' And you know what happened? He just ended up exploding the oven." Aiyanna's eyes widen, her mouth dropping open.

Suddenly, high pitched laughter escapes her. More tears are squeezed out of her eyes, but her mouth is stretched ear to ear. Tony couldn't help but join in on her infectious laughter. "Yeah, yeah, that was some ball game. The whole fire alarm system went off in the school, everyone got drenched. And _boy,_" Tony gives out a low whistle. "Was the headmaster angry. Had to scrub the whole kitchen together which took a good whole damn week. Hm. Yep, he had the worst cooking skills. I mean, I'm pretty bad at cooking myself, but at least I can cook pastries at the least! Haha...those were good times."

Tony looks over to Aiyanna, silently cheering that her expression looks a bit brighter when he tells her this particular memory. At the same time, he felt some guilt washed over him. He had lots of good memories with good ol' Jacob - but after his parents died and he inherited the company, the two went their ways. To put it simpler terms, Tony was the one who cut the relationship. One day he stopped answering Jacob's letters and phone calls, letting the wealth and fame get to his head - and they just stopped talking completely. After all of this time, Tony kept asking himself: Out of all people, why did Jacob chose _me_ to take care of his kid?

He heaved out a sigh, now feeling the heavy spirits and Jacob's death finally getting into him - friends like those are pretty rare. _And to think that he hardly crossed my mind after so many fucking years - damnit all. _Tony cursed himself. He bet half of his vodka stash that though Jacob trusted him enough to take care of his daughter, he must have lost his trust in him as a friend. And now he could never make up for it. _Now don't be so emo-ish and depressed Tony. You _can _make it up, sure as hell. You can make it up to Jacob by giving his kid the proper childhood and life she deserved - something that he could barely contribute himself. _

The CEO looks back at Aiyanna, briefly wondering if he could find any resemblance of her father in her. Her long thick black hair, light tanned brown skin, and tree bark pale brown eyes did not tip anything about her family connections with Jacob, whereas he has wavy blonde hair, fair skin, and dark blue eyes, Tony would've never thought that they were related. Chills run down his spine, when Tony recalled his meeting with the social worker, Ms. Cranston, when she handed him that folder with Aiyanna's personal life. What would and what can he do when that day comes where as Aiyanna questions the whereabouts of her real mother?

Damn, with all of these problems that seem to pile up everyday, can Tony seriously deal with it? Do _normal_ dads even have to deal with this? Probably not. Then again, they weren't a normal picture family, so to say. Yet that little voice reminds him of the responibilities that he has to eventually face in the future that is futile to escape from. He decides to move on to other matters than to dwell on these mind aching situations. He eyes the necklace that Aiyanna is squeezing in her hands. "Still haven't filled up that pouch necklace with three things?" He questions. She shakes her head.

"No. I don't know what to fill it up with. Daddy probably would've known what to do. He came up with really great ideas. If I don't fill the necklace, then I'm breaking the family magic, like daddy would say. Filling this charm is supposed to protect me."

"Hey, hey, don't forget, this guy is here!" Tony points at himself. "We'll figure out something. Like they say, three times the charm!" He pumps a fist. Aiyanna blinks, not looking quite as enthusiastic. "Say kid, don't sweat over it. Will you feel better if we do fill it up with three things?" Aiyanna nods. "Kay then. We'll figure something out." And this manages a smile out of the little girl. Tony smiles back. This was a responsibility he can handle.

* * *

Death. So much death. Why are there so much people dying…?

Thor swings his hammer at a Chitauri that tried to attack him from behind. Hoguun and Sif fight beside him, fighting tooth and nail at the never ending army of Chitauri and Frost Giants that seem to swarm Asguardian territory. Smoke and fire crackles in the air, giving a thick heaviness to it. So much of the surroundings are in ruins. So much bodies are dead on the ground…Thor tried his best not to look down at fallen Asguardians. They died warrior's death. Their deaths are sure, not to be in vain, for the sake of Asgard.

"Hah!" Thor cries out whipping his shield to an ambushing attacker. He raises his hammer to the air, lightning striking down on surrounding opponents. Electricity flows through the air.

"Thor, my lord! The Chitauri and Frost Giants are edging closer to the perimeters of Asgard citizen territory! They are getting close to the forcefield!" Hoguun hollers, swinging his axe down a Frost Giant's head, and kicking the body down to the ground.

"I shall go to the perimeters!" Thor yells back. He calls on his hammer, and orders it to fly him to the outer perimeters. He arrives there in a blink of an eye. Shockingly, lots of Chitauri and Frost Giants have made it to the citizen borders. Asguardian citizens alike scream in terror in the background, as they scramble to run away from the impeding army. Thor grits his teeth, feeling electricity and adrenaline flow through his body. Innocents and bystanders shall not die under his watch.

"GGAHHH!" Thor gives out a battle scream, pouncing on a nearby group of Chitauri, smashing his hammer into their skulls. "Yah!" He uppercuts into a Frost Giant's jaw, despite the frigidness that travels up his knuckles. How long has it been? Thor kicks another Frost Giant in the chest, spiraling the blue creature off into the air. Three? Four days since he has disappeared from Midgard? Here, in Asgard, such days seem like mere hours to the long lived race.

But it seemed so quick that the Frost Giants and Chitauri have joined forces - they were overwhelming. The Frost Giants, for sure, Thor thought that Asguardians could easily deal with. However, when they both united - that is when true blood has started to shed. Though the Asguardians are holding out, it seems that more men fall a little more as the battle rages on. And Thor did not expect the war to be so bloody and hard. How long could it possibly wage on before both sides can kill each other off?

The god of thunder grinded his teeth. He must not think such thoughts! Both Frost Giants and Chiaturi have been defeated once, and he can do it again, with his people! The Avengers flash across Thor's mind, and he is suddenly filled with longing to be with his newfound comrades. They would have surely figured something out by now. Asguardian forces and battle strategies are dwindling, becoming scattered and uncollected. Now it is every man for himself and to defend the outer provinces to keep the enemy out. How long could they truly last with such a clumsy plan?

Unconsciously thinking, Thor thought, _Well surely, Loki must have thought up of a grand strategy that can turn this whole fight around - _He stops himself, gripping Mjolnir. Loki. The one who started this. The reason for everything. _No, no, this is not his fault, this is not his fault!_ Thor thought with such ferocity, smashing the head of a Frost Giant into a Chitauri. _Loki is your brother, your childhood friend, your comrade…!_ Although these words hold such emptiness to Thor, even though he repeatedly tried to reassure himself. He recalled the bitter exchange he had with Loki - why did they have to part like that? There is a high chance that Thor would not come back to Midgard in a _long_ time, with the stakes like this.

Guilt stabbed at his heart. He _promised_ himself and pledged to SHIELD that he would watch over and stay by his brother's side. But here he is, fighting, because of the impulse to run away. He just wished that the fighting would end. Thor was one who enjoyed the thrill of fighting, chaos, and war - but that is if he is on the side that is sure to win. Now Thor is not so certain, even though he had strong faith in the Asguardian spirit. It has been a mere few days, and Asguardians are disoriented already. It serves to show that Asguardians have become so laxed in the many years of peace they had. It was like they have never seen it coming, because of their over confidence and arrogance…

Thor dodges the tab of a huge bulky looking Frost Giant. Hammer connects with sword- and Thor gazes into the Frost Giant's red eyes for a brief moment. A strangled gasp escapes, horrified at what he says. An intense burning hatred that seemed to dance like flames in the Frost Giant's blood red eyes - hatred so similar to Loki's.

_"You do not know me Thor. Because you do not understand me. You think, that just because I'm adopted, just because that I'm a, Frost Giant,"_ Thor feels a heaviness weigh down on his heart. Stubbournly, he clung on to the truth that Loki was not right - that he was just delusioned, misguided as he was. But...can these words be true? Thor looks wide-eyed into the Frost Giant's frightful eyes. Eyes he used to be terrified of as a child, even though he would not admit such a thing in front of his younger brother. He winced, remembering a few words he proclaimed as a child.

'_One day, I will slaughter and destroy all of the Frost Giants!'_

Thor wondered if Loki remembered this statement when he found out of his true heritage. He shakes this off. Such petty childish words do not matter to his brother - then again, he is the observer and analyzer…

Looking into those hateful red eyes, Thor shortly realized something in that moment - yes, he does want to deny that ugly part of Loki - the Frost Giant part, the _monster_ part. Deep in his soul, Thor was _afraid_ of that feral side that Loki happens to hold. It was just remnants of a childish fear, but still. Thor wanted to avoid the fact that Loki is the conniving psychopath killer that his friends and father view him as now - he simply blamed it on his Frost Giant heritage. Afterall, his true heritage excused his actions, didn't it?

Thor kicks the huge Frost Giant off his feet, to the ground. He raises the hammer over his head, to finish it off. Those red burning eyes stare defiantly at Thor, a hint of a sneer on the cold monster's face, despite the fact that he was looking at his death. It was as if he were urging, 'I dare you to do it.' Once again, this gives Thor another painful memory from his heated exchange from Loki before he left Midgard.

That maddened, crazed grin on his younger brother's face when Thor knocked the wind out of him. He still managed to so effortlessly smirk and taunt his opponent, no matter how much the situation seemed bleak for Loki, the trickster still laughed at the absurdity of it. Thor secretly admired such bravado - but back at that moment, it only made him more infuriated. Which clearly pleased Loki.

_"We are equals now, brother."_

_"Is that what you think? Then you are blind as well Thor."_

_"What are you waiting for? Are you scared?"_

Thor was baffled how Loki would resort to provoking him into striking him out of anger, just so that they would be equals. So petty and childish - yet this reason seemed to be the root of it all. Thor could not possibly comprehend it. They were equals, were they not? Both parents equally loved their sons, both had a good life, both had good futures - it continuously pops up in Thor's mind. _Where did it all go wrong? _

The Frost Giant seized the chance of Thor's hesitation, knocking him off his feet. He flies straight into a fight between a cluster of Asguardians and Chitauri. He gasped for air, winded by the impact. Damn. Why did he hesitate? Why must he remember all of these painful memories? He jumps to his feet, and continues to fight. _Why did it all lead up to this point?_ Thor thought, regret coming back to mind.

He perfectly recalled that he played a huge part in Loki's madness and downfall. If he hadn't so recklessly charged off to Jotunheim and challenged the Jotun King, then he wouldn't have been banished and then...Loki would have not been left alone to discover his true origins. Thor was equally as responsible for Loki's actions as Loki was for his. He wondered if he could possibly bring this up at the trial that is to come once the war ends. Then, he is reminded that Asguardian court would not accept such evidence.

It all occurs to Thor. They were never equals. Though Thor views it that way, Asguardian society and people did not see it that way. Compared to his and Loki's trial, Odin had the favor of making Thor's banishment private but Loki's trial public. Odin gave Thor a chance at redemption when he was banished, and Loki not one chance at all. And now that Thor thinks of it, Loki's outlook on the situation of invading Midgard was no different from Odin's perspective - so much Asguardians respect Odin's actions for invading realms that caused the death of many, but for Loki, well, Asguardians ostracized him for it. Why is that?

It is suddenly clear to Thor. He is as responsible for Loki's actions. Of course, no one would accept, no matter how much he would plead. Because his actions are justified, while for Loki, they are not. He is equal to him, deserving a second chance as he did! In fact, many other forces came into play descending Loki to where and who he is now - he was not born evil as Asguardians mutter and gossip.

Thor grips his hammer as this realization hits him. _It is not fair._ He thought. _It is our fault as well. Yet we are placing all of the blame on Loki...we are just as guilty…despite this, Loki will be punished in his next trial. _Thor felt his eyes burning. Why are they burning? No, why are they wet? A single streak of water trails down his face. _He is sure to die by Asguardians' wrath. And I cannot possibly take responsibilty for it._

* * *

**A/N: Hmmm not my best chapter, is it? Sorry it's kinda sluggish and slow, I just gotta get my mind jogging back to writing Fanfiction. It's pretty slow, and I know there hasn't been any Loki/Aiyanna interaction in awhile - I just wanna reassure the existence of Thor in this chapter, as well as develop Tony and Aiyanna's relationship. (Hope that Thor was in character though). Hopefully more will happen next chapter. Reviews please!**


	22. Authors Notes: Lots of Apologies

**Yuki Girl here, **

**Welp, it's been three weeks. :S Lots of apologies people! DX**

**Gosh, I thought I could manage my Fanfiction schedule along with my school life, but that ain't gonna work out folks! Like I said, 8th grade is gonna get ccraaaaazzz-eeeee for me. high school chool applications, prep for ISEE and SSAT tests and juggling normal school life at the same time - it's going to be pretty rough for me. I still will write Fanfiction in my spare time, but not for 'To Be a Friend.' This particular fanfic is something that I want to write out really well, and not spew out chapters for the sake of posting them. I want to make each chapter satisfactory, propelling the plot, and not things I wrote at the last minute. Believe me, you peeps don't wanna read something I wrote at the last minute. XD **

**So until then readers, I will put 'To Be a Friend' on hiatus, until November, heck, maybe till December. Yeah, I know, it's gonna be a VERREH long time...I hope by then, you peeps will still be active and around to read the rest of the fic! Don't worry, for sure, I will NOT give up on this story, I am sure of it! I just hope you peeps will still be around when I actually update...**

**Until then, thanks for the reviews, support, follows, favorites, and love you gave to, 'To Be a Friend!' It's one of my most successful fanfics so far, thanks to all of you great guys out there! Maybe during this weekend or some other time, I will update one chapter of 'To Be a Friend' but after that, no more posts. :( **

**Wish me luck in high school applications (I'm gonna need it) not to mention, getting into my dream high school. (Blair Academy!) Once again thanks for the support you're giving me, cuz it really raises my spirits up! This story wouldn't have been here without you! **

**-YukiGirl21, out**


End file.
